The Countdown To Extinction
by 21gloverboy
Summary: The Time Kids are back in an all new prehistoric adventure! This time around, the three time travelers are on a mission to tag an Iguanodon for Dr. Seeker of the Dino Institute. But an unexpected stowaway may hinder their mission. And with the threat of carnivores, desert heat, and the drive of a herd leader, the four kids are going to need to rely on each other for survival.
1. Chapter 1

**:**

 **Countdown**

 **To**

 **Extinction**

By Gloverboy23

 _ **(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do.**_

* * *

Chapter 1: A Summer well-ruined

:

The summer in California was at it's peak. The sun was shinning brightly over the suburbs as kids in their front yards played and hung-out.

Unfortunately, there was one residents that was not enjoying the summer holidays at that very moment.

Twelve year-old Shelly Blake was in a very unhappy mood in her house. Her ten year-old brother, Ken, was feeling it as well. Their parents had just informed them both that a guest was coming for a visit for a week. And this particular guest was not one of their favourites.

"I don't know why you had to invite Mitch to come here, mom," Said Shelly as she combed her short, blond hair as she walked out of the upstairs bathroom.

Clara Blake, who was tall and thin with short blond hair like her daughter, just shook her head and told her, "It's only for a week, Shelly. I don't why you are complaining about this."

Shelly frowned down at her mother from the banister. "You don't know Mitch like me and Ken do, mom. He's nothing but a little creep."

"Now, Shelly-" Clara said.

"It's true, mom, he is!" Shelly insisted. "Last time he was here, he rummaged through my room and took my magazine and used it to blackmail me."

Clara crossed her arms, a brow raised. "That magazine was something that you shouldn't have had in the first place, young lady."

Shelly rolled her eyes as she snorted. "Oh come on, mom," She said. "He used it to blackmail me into doing what he wanted, remember?"

Clara sighed as she picked up the laundry basket next to her feet. "I do remember, Shelly," She said. "And it was wrong of him to do that, but you have to remember that you can not have that sort of stuff in your room. Not every girl your age gets the perfect guy in a magazine at sweet sixteen, you know that. And you are not even sixteen yet."

"Well, that's not the point right now," Shelly said, "the point is that Mitch is a little snitch. He's a tattletale, and I think he somehow knows about... the T.W.C, mom."

Clara understood what she meant. The T.W.C, which stood for Time Watch Corporation, was a secret time travelling organization that only a select few knew about. The corporation was founded by Mr. Brie. But the power of time travel was originally created by a young man named Zeke Staedtler. He, and his grandfather, Reginald, were from the year 2035 in the far future. They both had time travelled back to the year 2010 so that they could re-build their corporation and have a new life from the one they knew back in the future. Clara did not know all the details about it, but didn't press the matter.

This new organization in California was something Clara and her husband wanted their kids to get involved in. So, without another word, they both signed their kids up to join. Of course, Clara and Thomas had to sign a _non_ - _disclosure agreement_ for their kids and themselves before they joined that explicitly forbid _them from telling anyone what they saw or experienced._ Nobody, not even the general public, was to know about the corporation and it's secrets.

Only a select few, young people mostly, were allowed to join the T.W.C and learn about time travel. And experience it.

Those members were allowed to time travel and learn about history in Earth's past.

But now, with Mitch coming over for the week, that could be a problem. He didn't know about the T.W.C or the time travel technology used for it, but he had been suspicious when Shelly and Ken had talked about in Shelly's room. Mitch, like a little snake with his ears against the door, had over-heard almost everything.

From then on Mitch had tried to use that against Shelly and even tried to bluff her into relieving the T.W.C by catching her off-guard. But Shelly and Ken were both on to him. They were not going to slip-up and tell him anything.

Mitch had vowed that one day he would find out about the Time Watch Corporation, that much he promised. And now he was coming back, and this time he was staying for a week. A week!

Clara cleared her throat. "Be that as it may, Shelly," She said. "He is family. And me and your father expect you and your brother to treat him as such. I don't want any senseless fighting when you are going to the Dino Institute tomorrow, understand?"

"Yes, mom," Said Shelly.

Abandoning the hair dryer, Shelly went to her room. She knew that once Mitch was here, he would start snooping around again. This time he could find out about the T.W.C. Slowly and obligingly she went to work storing away her pictures of her time travelling adventures.

"Sometimes I wish I had a lock for my door," Shelly muttered coldly.

* * *

All too soon, there was a noise of gravel outside as Thomas Blake's car pulled into the driveway, then the clump of the car doors closing and footsteps on the front yard path.

Shelly and Ken stood in the hallway where they were, a glum feeling in both their stomachs as the door opened.

On the threshold stood eleven year-old Mitch Pester Blake. He looked almost like Ken, but not quite. His light-brown hair was sharp-looking, the long fringes pointy. His eyes were greenish and held the kind of mean-looking little boy attitude you'd expect to see. He was wearing green khaki pants which were tucked into his blackish army boots and had on a navy blue t-shirt with the sleeves rolled-up. He had freckles on his cheeks as well, but only three well-defined spots.

"Hello, cousins," Said Mitch. "Long time no see."

"Not long enough," Ken said with a grumble, crossing his arms.

"Ken, is that anyway to speak to your cousin?" Thomas said as he past by them, carrying Mitch's duffle bag upstairs to the guest room.

Ken sighed. "No, dad,"

Mitch shot Ken one of his "I won" grins, and followed Thomas upstairs.

Clenching his fists, Ken felt like he wanted to go after him and cream the little jerk. Shelly put a restraining hand on her brother's shoulder.

"We can't chance it, Ken," Shelly told him. "If we are going to go to the Dino Institute with Sophie Wolfheart tomorrow, we can't get into any fights. You heard what mom said."

Ken nodded.

"Besides," Shelly whispered under her breath. "I'll keep him busy tomorrow at the institute while you and Sophie go downstairs to the loading basement with Dr. Seeker. Hopefully, the computer lab will keep him occupied until we come back from our 'trip'."

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. As Mitch made himself at home, Shelly and Ken stayed in their rooms, playing video games or doing homework.

It was only during supper that something went wrong.

When everyone had finished their meal, Clara had brought out her homemade cookies on a plate. Each of the kids were allowed three, but Mitch had other ideas. As soon as Clara and Thomas had left the table, his hand had shot-out toward the plate, and was about to grab the last cookie when...

 _ **Slap!**_

Shelly's hand connected with his, deflecting his aim from the cookie.

"What did you do that for?" Mitch snapped.

"You can't have the last cookie, Mitch," Shelly told him. "You can only have three, like my mom said."

"I don't know why you should care," Mitch said, barrelling on. "and besides, I'm the guest here."

Shelly shot back, "Guests are people who are planning on leaving." she grabbed the cookie from the plate, broke it in two, and gave the other half to Ken.

"You know what? Military summer camp is looking better all the time!" Said Mitch sorely, and he stalked off from the table.

Ken watched him go. "You could have split that three ways, Shelly," He said, eating his cooking. "It's only a cookie."

"It's not about the cookie, Ken," Shelly told him as she stuffed the cookie in her mouth. "it's about the principle of it. If he had gotten that last cookie, he would've given us his usual triumphant win smirk. I'm not going to let him ruin this summer just for that."

"I guess you're right." Said Ken, swallowing hard. "I only hope that tomorrow is a better day."

"It will be, Ken, don't you worry." Said Shelly. "Nothing is going to go wrong."

* * *

 _ **:**_

 _ **Well, here is the first chapter of my DINOSAUR story. Mind the next chapter might take a while because of my Jurassic Park story, but hey, that's the way I work.**_

 _ **So until next time, END OF LINE.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Grudges of a Family

:

She asked her mother a question that morning on the day they were leaving for the Dino Institute she had not asked before.

Thomas had left early for work, and Ken and Mitch were having breakfast in the dining room. Shelly and her mother were cleaning up.

"Why didn't we ever visit our uncle? We only saw him a few times at family reunions and stuff like that."

"He never invited us," Clara said, finally.

Shelly asked, "Was it because he didn't like you or you didn't like him?"

"I'm not sure it was the question of liking, Shelly..." Clara's hand moved jerkily as she dried off a dish with a towel.

"What, then?" Shelly waited.

Mrs. Blake spoke slowly, thinking over her words, it seemed. "Jerry was the oldest, I was next in line. He was also very popular in high-school... and knew it. I don't think he once missed being surrounded by his friends-girls, jocks, and football champions. Everything our dad wanted him to be, he was."

She stopped, as though that was all there was to the story.

"So?" Shelly asked, urging her on.

"He was never really there for me. Do you know what I mean, Shelly? In Junior High, Jerry made a name for himself among the kids who were popular. When I felt alone or was bothered by another student who teased me, I always thought that Jerry would come to my rescue. But he never did."

"Why wouldn't he?"

"Oh, he acted like a jerk and said to me that he had to keep-up his appearances in class, didn't have time to babysit me or anything. In high-school it was just as bad. He told me that he was finally in with the cool kids and that I should not screw that up for him. Do you understand, Shelly? He wanted nothing to do with me in high-school because he thought I would ruin everything for him. I guess that it was maybe our dad's fault for picking favourites when we were young. For pitting us against each other until there were layers of... of grudges, I guess."

"Then why take it out on him?" Shelly asked.

"I never did, Shelly," There was an edge to her voice now

"Well, you never called him."

"He can pickup a phone just a easily as I can."

"Did you ever ask him over or anything?"

Clara shook her head. "No. I wouldn't be able to stand being in the same room with him if I could help it."

Shelly fell silent. That's how it was with families sometimes. One sibling would make the other sibling feel insignificant.

"Sort of like Mitch and me," Shelly said, finally.

Clara turned to her daughter, "No, not like Mitch and you!" She studied Shelly intently. "Whatever made you say that?"

Shelly groaned as she put the dried dishes away. "The kid's a tattler, mom. And if he doesn't get what he wants when he tattles, he digs something up about you that you don't want others to find out about, and blackmails you. Do you understand?"

"I do, Shelly," Clara put down her towel and her face was sincere. "And he'll grow out of it, you'll see. But for now, I want you and Mitch to try and get along, okay? He may not be blood related to you and your brother, but he's family. Don't forget that."

Shelly didn't answer. What kind of a family member tattles on you and blackmails you just because he can? She wondered. Hopefully, when they got to the Dino Institute, she would be able to ditch Mitch in the computer lab. Aside from Mr. Brie, Zeke, his grandfather, and a few members of the T.W.C, no one else knew about the Dino Institute's time travelling secrets. And if Mitch found out about it...

But what was she worried about? Mitch was only a kid. And nobody believed a kid about anything that was impossible or out of the ordinary. Did they?

* * *

It was when Mitch pushed past her to get to the front seat of the car, that the anger surfaced again. Shelly knew that Mitch was the guest and everything, but pushing passed her to get to that seat was just another insult to add.

Ken and her got in the back.

Clara turned the key in the ignition. Mitch was already fiddling with the CD player and indicators. Shelly kicked the back of Mitch's seat out of retaliation. Mitch didn't even bat an eye when she did this. He just ignored her.

They drove in silence, none of the kids making noise or even talking. Ken was reading a chapter of his new Dinosaur Encyclopedia book, and Shelly was rechecking her backpack to make sure she had everything for the 'trip'. Mitch wasn't paying attention to anything except his new camera phone.

Since the Dino Institute was only a twenty-five minute long trip, Clara took her time to get there. The Institute was on the outskirts of the city and was well known for it's collection of fossils.

Shelly and Ken knew of the time rover that Dr. Seeker had helped build and that the technology used trans-dimensional power to travel through time. That sort of technology, like the Time Watch Corporation, was secret and kept from the public.

When they arrived at the Dino Institute's parking lot, got out and walked up to the front doors, another person was there waiting for them.

"Sophie, you're here!" Shelly waved, walking up to her friend and fellow member of the T.W.C.

Sophie Luna Wolfheart was a good friend of Shelly, Ken, and Josiah. At age 21, Sophie was only 4 ft 11 inches tall, slightly plump-bodied, and had golden hair with a hint of red in it, and bright blue-green eyes. Though the blue showed more then the green. She wore grey khaki pants, brown hiking boots, and a green t-shirt. Her skin was slightly tanned from the Californian sun though.

Letting out a good hearted laugh, Sophie hugged Shelly and patted her on the back. When Ken came over she did the same.

"It's great that you guys are here," Sophie said, releasing Ken. "Dr. Seeker has everything setup for-"

"Shhh!" Shelly hissed, raising a hand to stop her older friend from talking. "Not here, Sophie. Not in front of my cousin, okay."

Sophie glanced at Mitch, then back at Shelly and nodded. She had heard about Mitch from Shelly several times before during their time travel trips at the T.W.C. Including the tattletale bits.

When Clara had driven away, The four individuals went inside the Institute. The small group first entered the building's open-air rotunda, brimming with murals, dioramas and fossils depicting one of the most startling chapters in the history of the world . . . when dinosaurs became extinct. In the middle was a giant Carnotaurus skeleton. The stairs to the upper floors were to the right and left. Those led to the other dioramas and fossils that were more impressive. There was even a computer lab for the kids with free internet. And to the left-hand side on the main floor was the entryway to the gift-shop for when visitors left.

To the rear of the rotunda were the back doors that led down to the loading basement for the time rovers. The sign on the door read, "CTX Briefing Room."

As Sophie and Ken made their way toward the doors, Shelly took Mitch aside and up the stairs to the second floor.

"Why aren't we going with them?" Mitch enquired, pointing after after Ken and Sophie, who had gone through the doors to the loading basement.

"Why should you care?" Shelly told him. "Besides, it's none of your business anyway. The computer lab is this way. Now, mom told me to set you up there while me and Ken are busy with Sophie in the back rooms downstairs."

Mitch gave her a dirty look, but didn't argue any farther.

When they got to the computer lab, Shelly could see that there were other kids there as well. Only a few computers were being used.

Shelly signed him into a computer, told him that she was joining her brother and Sophie in the basement and would be back in a few minutes, and left the lab.

Mitch watched her go, glaring. "Forget this," He muttered in a low voice. "You're not leaving me behind, cus'. And I'm going to find out what you're up to."

Quickly and quietly, Mitch made his way out of the computer lab, down to the second floor, and through the double doors to the basement.

* * *

:

 _ **(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do. Sophie Luna Wolfheart belongs to User (C) Saphiradragonhert**_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A stowaway among us

:

After walking through Orientation room A, Sophie, Shelly, and Ken travelled down a short corridor and to the left to the underground research facility.

This was all part of Dr. Helen Marsh's creative yet highly controversial revenue-generating scheme. The public didn't know about the time rovers or time travel just yet. She wanted to make sure that guests would feel safe during trips through time. So far, trips through the time tunnel had been a success. The underground research facility was where the time travel experiments have been taking place. And that's where the trio were right at this minute.

With them was Dr. Grant Seeker, a late thirties man in a lab coat, who was giving the three time kids a briefing on how the time rovers worked and functioned.

The underground facility, Ken had noticed, had nondescript concrete walls and exposed utility lines. Pipes, wires and cables run throughout the facility. It all looked highly scientific to the ten year old. He could see some attempts had been made to dress up the space with large banners, but it was clear that museum guests were not typically allowed back here. Dr. Seeker explained that Dr. Marsh wanted to prove that the viability of the Time Rover Tours would bring enough funding to make this area look as polished and professional as the rest of the Institute.

On the loading bay track was the Time Rover. And behind it was the T.W.C Time Buggy. Zeke and his grandfather had already had the circular, bowl-shaped vehicle transported to the underground facility earlier that morning.

Ken liked the design of the time rover. It was cool-looking and had that EMV-like look similar to a theme park ride. The vehicle seated twelve people in three rows of four. The rover had air filled tractor trailer tires atop the surface of its slotted roadbed. Beneath the slot was a tubular guiderail that guided the front wheelset and was responsible for supplying power to the vehicle. It even came with communication, control, safety, and audio systems as well.

After briefing the kids in, Dr. Seeker gave Sophie a tracking-homing device which would allow him, and other guests if possible, to track and find a dinosaur in the past.

Sophie looked questionably at Dr. Seeker. "Does Dr. Marsh know about this?" She asked, putting the device in her pack. "Because I've noticed that there is not a lot of staff down here at the moment."

"Well..." Dr. Seeker muttered, scratching his chin. "This is actually an unauthorized field trip."

"What?!" Shelly and Ken said in unison.

Sophie said, "You mean to tell us that you brought us here for an unauthorized trip behind Dr. Helen Marsh's back? Do you realize how much trouble we could get into?"

Dr. Seeker held up his hands. "I know, I know," He said as he backed away. "And I'm sorry for not telling you guys earlier, but this is important. I need your help on tagging an Iguanodon in the late Cretaceous."

"Why that particular dinosaur?" Ken asked.

"Because," Dr. Seeker said, "I believe the _Iguanodon_ is the key to finding out more information about dinosaurs and I want to study the creature further once it's brought back here."

"Then why don't you go then?" Said Shelly, her arms crossed. "You're the scientist after all."

"I would if I could, Shelly," Explained Dr. Seeker. "But I have to monitor the controls for the time rover in the control room booth, and make sure you, your brother, and Sophie travel through the time tunnel safely."

"And what if Dr. Marsh finds out?" Said Ken, looking around for any sign of the Directer of the institute. "She'll be really mad if we use the Time Rover."

Dr. Seeker waved a hand at him, to reassure him that it was fine. "She won't find out, Ken, believe me." He said. "You'll be there in the late Cretaceous, and back before you know it."

"Well, if we're going to do this," Declared Sophie, walking over and climbing into the time rover's front row seat. "then we better do it fast. Shelly and Ken, you guys climb into the time buggy. I'll take the lead in the rover."

Dr. Seeker looked relieved. "Oh, thanks, guys." He said. "Now, I'll be in the control booth and activate the time tunnel once the rover and buggy are both inside. Temporal displacement will occur in a few short seconds after that. Then the three of you will transported to the late Cretaceous."

When Shelly had gotten into the buggy, Ken paused and turned to Dr. Seeker, a look of worry on his face.

"Wait a minute," He objected, remembering the details. "isn't that cutting it a bit close to the meteorite impact that wiped-out all the Dinosaurs? Suppose it..."

But Seeker shook his head in that no worries way that he always did. "You don't have to worry about a thing. I made sure that the time coordinates programmed into the time rover transports you and the others before that event. You'll have two days to find the Iguanodon, tag it, and leave. And just in case the rover transports back here without you, you have your time buggy as backup."

Reassured by that fact, Ken climbed in next to his sister. The dome of the buggy closed over their heads, encasing them in protective glass. The rover in front of them with Sophie was fine. Dr. Seeker had told them that the metal alloy of the rover protected the passengers from the temporal time energy from the tunnel. Sophie would be fine.

Once Seeker was in the control booth, Sophie started up the rover. The vehicle drove around a corner of the track, followed closely by the time buggy. Once both vehicles were in the time tunnel, Dr. Seeker started the process.

Beginning to float steadily in the air, the rover and buggy rocked from side-to-side as they were engulfed by thickening smoke and pulsating flashes of light. It was followed by low rumbling noise that grew louder as the vehicles were aglow with millions of tiny sparkles.

Then, as if by magic, both vehicles faded out of sight.

Back in time: 5 million . . . 10 million . . . 20 million . . . 40 million . . . 60 million . . . 65 million years.

Ken had his eyes closed during most of the time travel experience. "Hello, late Cretaceous, goodby lunch." He whispered with a groan.

Each of the kids only saw a field of twinkling stars for a brief second or two before the buggy and the rover came to a complete stop. There was a short jolt as both vehicles landed.

(*)

The first thing they all saw was a beach, sparkling sand all alongside a lush tropical jungle. The sun was shinning and the air, from Sophie's position, was crisp and warm like a summer kiss. She had experienced the time rover's time travel first-hand, though it was very brief. She got out, stretched her legs, and went over to Shelly and Ken. The dome of the time buggy opened and both kids got out.

"Well, here we are," Said Ken, not looking very excited. "The late Cretaceous time period. I guess all we have to do now is find that Iguanodon for Dr. Seeker."

"Well, before we do that," Said Shelly as she walked over to the rover's back. "We gotta see what kind of supplies we got."

She was about to unlock the trunk, when she noticed the latch on it was already unhooked, and the trunk half opened.

"What the..." Shelly started, but then opened the trunk the rest of the way. And inside among the supplies, looking sheepish, was Mitch!

Shelly let out a startled cry and backed away. Sophie and Ken came over and saw what had made her do that.

Mitch Pester Blake climbed out of the rover's trunk, adjusted his clothes, and stood with his hands on his hips.

"Hey, guys," He said casually with a smirk. "How's it hanging?"

(*)

Unbeknownst to the four time travellers, a pair of small yellow eyes were watching them from the jungle. The eyes belonged to a prehistoric lemur. The small animal was staring at the strange two-legged creatures with wonder. It had never seen such creatures before, nor the odd-looking metal beasts they were with.

This was something Yar and Plio had to know about. If these creatures were a threat, then they could be a threat to all of the lemurs. All the lemurs except one.

* * *

:

 _ **(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do. Sophie Luna Wolfheart belongs to User (C) Saphiradragonhert**_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Something new on the beach

:

Sophie Luna Wolfheart didn't know who was mad at who, but she could plainly see that the two Blake cousins were at each others throats. And it was not going to end well.

"You are not supposed to be here, Mitch!" Shelly shouted, waving her arms and walking in a circle. "And how did you get into the time rover?"

"For your information, cus'," Mitch retorted, his arms crossed. "I followed you down to that facility, and crawled into the rover's trunk. You didn't even noticed me. I guess I was right all along, cus'. There is such a thing as time travel. And this proves it."

"Yeah?" Shelly snapped. "Well, you're going right back to the institute this second!"

Mitch decided to play his trump card at that moment. "Fine, cus'," He said smugly, turning away from her. "If you send me back to the institute, I'll tell Dr. Marsh everything. Then you guys and Dr. Seeker will really get it."

Shelly clenched her fists. "Well, now you've done it, Mitch!" She said. "What if she has the time rover transported back to the loading bay, and we're not there inside of it?"

"You have your buggy-thing, don't you?" Mitch said, pointing to the time buggy behind the rover. "you can just use that to return to the future."

"First, it's called the time buggy," Shelly told him. "second, the buggy can only hold two people when it is in hover mode. Not three. You've just complicated things by being here, Mitch."

Mitch made a face. "So what?" He said. "This just means you'll have to let me stay."

"Oh!" Shelly let out a cheesed-off groan as she stomped her foot. She knew this would happen if Mitch came to the institute with them. And now he was here in the late Cretaceous of all places. And blackmailing her to boot.

Sophie decided to step in. "Uh, Shelly, he can stay with us." She said placing an assuring hand on Shelly's shoulder. "We only have two days here anyway."

Shelly brushed Sophie's hand off. "He's a tattling, blackmailing little twerp, Sophie!" Said Shelly, pointing a finger at Mitch. "I don't want him hanging around us while we're here. He has to go back."

"Okay then, cus'," Mitch declared, climbing into the time rover's front row seat. "We'll see what Dr. Marsh has to say about this when I tell her that you guys took the rover on unauthorized trip to the past."

Now Shelly's really angry, and her words came at Mitch like an angry wasp. "What are you trying to do, Mitch? Start up trouble? You think I can't put you in your place really quick?"

Her voice was so shrill that Sophie and Ken took a step back. Ken knew of his sister's temper, and also knew she was not the type of girl, tomboy or not, to mess with. Mitch didn't even seemed fazed by his older cousin's outburst at all.

Instead, he asked, "And how are you going to do that, huh? By hitting me? Don't make me laugh."

Shelly felt like she wanted to attack him and do just that. Instead, rather then get even more angry, she decided to give in.

"All right, Mitch," She grumbled, turning away from him. "You can stay."

Mitch replied rather uppishly, "I knew you'd see it my way, cus'."

Sophie took that moment to say sternly, "But this doesn't mean that you are coming with us into the jungle, got it? You are to stay here with the time rover and buggy until we come back. Understand?"

Mitch stared at her, then nodded.

"Right," Said Sophie, putting on her backpack. "Ken, Shelly, get your things. We've got a mission to accomplish. Lets head into the jungle and find our target."

As Shelly and Ken got their packs, slung them on, and followed Sophie, Shelly turned back to Mitch and said severely, "And don't even think of following us, got it? And don't touch any of the controls of the rover or buggy. Remember, you are not a part of this." and with those last words, she followed after her brother and Sophie.

Mitch sat where he was in the rover, his tongue stuck-out as he blew a loud raspberry after her.

(*)

As the trio entered the forest, they could see huge trees looming on all sides. Birds chirped, insects buzzed, and the sun shone through jungle canopy above their heads. Sophie liked this. It sort of felt like home to her since she was used to the outdoors. Shelly liked it as well. This was her kind of place. Ken stumbled a bit over the roots that stuck out of the ground. He did not like going into forested places. That sort of thing was what his sister was used to. They may have been in jungles before during time travel trips with the T.W.C, but to Ken this was just another boring trek through the jungles of a prehistoric world.

"This place is really cool, huh, Shelly?" Said Sophie a she breathed in the lush tropical air. "Fresh air, warm sun, lavish jungle. Oh yeah, girl. This is my kind of place."

Shelly smiled. "It's quite a relief from my cousin, that's for sure."

Sophie asked, "Why don't you get along with Mitch, Shelly? Is he that bad of a cousin?"

Shelly thought it over. "Well," She said finally. "Mitch wasn't always like that. He used to be a good cousin, good hearted and sweet. But over time, like everything else, he started acting bad. Getting into fights at school, tattling on his schoolmates for all the wrong reasons, and playing pranks. In summer, both his parents had sent him to military summer camp. But that only made things worse. I don't know all the details, but from what I could gather, Mitch was no longer the cousin we knew and respected in our family."

"Is that why he acts obnoxious all the time?" Sophie asked, manoeuvring over a fallen log.

Shelly nodded. "He does it when it's only convenient around me and my brother." She explained. "Not around my parents. They think he's too good for that kind of behaviour."

Sophie stopped and faced her. "Then you should tell your parents, Shelly. If you do, then Mitch surely won't get away with his behaviour."

Shelly took a swig of water from her bottle. "Don't you think I tried that, Sophie?" She said. "My mom and dad think he'll grow at of it, but I certainly think he won't."

Sophie didn't press the matter anymore. They continued to walk in silence for a while until Ken asked, "So how are we going to find this Iguanodon, guys? We've been walking for eight minutes here. And it-" A squishing sound beneath Ken's foot made him stop and look down. He'd stepped into a pile of ankle-deep mush. He disgustedly shook it off. "Eww! What did I just step in?" he finally said, hopping on one foot.

Sophie bent down and examined the brownish mush. Then she smiled and said, "Yep, I think we're close to our dino. Good work, Ken."

Ken's shoe didn't feel very lucky, and neither did him.

"Let's look around this area here, guys." Shelly said, waving a hand around their surroundings. "It's probably close by. Sophie, do you have the tracking-homing device?"

Sophie took off her pack and unzipped it. She reached in and took out the device that Dr. Seeker had given them. It looked sort of like a belt, long and with a central tracking indicator in the the middle.

"Yep. Got it right here," Said Sophie as she put the device back in the pack. "Now, let's find that dino."

They each took a section of the clearing, looking both high and low for the dinosaur. Sophie knew it was a single animal and not a whole group because of the dung pile Ken had stepped in. This dinosaur was fully grown, and Sophie estimated that it was an adult.

Ken had taken a section near a tall brush, looking as hard as he could for the Iguanodon. As he searched, Ken got the feeling that he was being watched. He looked over his shoulders a couple of times, but could not see what was watching him.

Then, just as he'd turned his back, he felt something snag him by the back of his shirt and hoist him up in the air.

"Ahhh!"

Shelly and Sophie both spun around and saw Ken being dangled in the air by... an Iguanodon.

The dinosaur, Sophie had noticed, was large and slender. It had a blue-green colouration to it's scales and a cream underbelly. It's eyes were also green and looked like they held intelligence. But there was something a little off. It was the dinosaur's mouth. It didn't seem to have a beak-like look at all. Just smooth scaly lips where a beak should be. While Sophie was busy examining the dinosaur, Shelly went to her little brother's assist.

It wasn't easy because the Iguanodon kept lifting Ken out of her reach whenever she jumped up to grab at him.

Ken was shouting, "You lousy lizard! Put me down!"

Shelly was shouting, "Put him down! Get back here with him! Stop!"

And all the while Sophie was chuckling at the scene. She had heard about Ken getting into these sort of situations before, but never thought she actually see it.

Shelly turned to her and enquired impatiently, "Are you going to help, or are you going to just watch?"

"Well, I think you've got the situation under control," Said Sophie as she hung back.

Shelly was about to retort to that when an elderly voice from behind the Iguanodon spoke out, "Aladar, will you stop fooling around? Put that two-legged thing down."

The Iguanodon stopped, lowered it's head obediently, and released Ken. The ten year old rushed to his sister's side, adjusting his T.C.W t-shirt.

The trio looked up at the dinosaur and saw that it wasn't alone. On it's back was some sort of monkey. Ken couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was a lemur. The animal was paunchy, elderly brown and white with wrinkles. It's voice sounded gruff, like an elders, and had a deep grumble to it.

Ken, Shelly, and Sophie had encountered talking animals before during their time travel adventures, so there was nothing new about this. These sort of things never really took them by surprise anymore.

What did take Sophie by surprise was that a lemur was here in the late Cretaceous at all. They weren't suppose to appear until another few million years.

The old lemur climbed down the Iguanodon's limb and approached the trio in short hops. When he stopped in front of them, he started sniffing them. When he was done, he tilted his head as he looked them over.

"I hope you three don't mind me asking you this, but who are you guys? What are you?" The elderly lemur asked. "You sort of look like me, but you don't have any fur or a tail. Plus, you stand upright."

Being the leader of the group, Sophie addressed herself, knelling down so that she was a little on the eye level with the old lemur.

"My name is Sophie Luna Wolfheart. And these," She said, pointing to Shelly and Ken. "are my friends, Shelly and Ken Blake. We are creatures known as humans."

The lemur smiled and pointed a paw at himself and the Iguanodon. "I'm Yar," He said courteously with a short bow. "and this is my grandson, Aladar."

Aladar stepped forward. "It's nice to meet you," He said, leaning his head down to them. "all of you. But wasn't there a fourth human with you? Down by the beach, I mean."

Shelly said, "Yeah, that would be my cousin. His name's Mitch."

(*)

After the introductions were over and done with, the trio went back down to the beach. It took Aladar and Yar a lot to swallow about the humans and where they had come from. For the next few minutes the kids told the old lemur and dinosaur about themselves, their species, and their world. Soon other lemurs appeared from trees to get a look at the strange two-legged creatures on their island home. Suri, a young female lemur who looked almost like her mother, Plio, had a small group of her friends on Aladar's back. They were also curious about the humans.

By the time they were at the beach, Sophie and the others had been bombarded with question after question by the little prehistoric monkeys. When they had come upon the time vehicles, with Mitch still there where he had been, some of the lemurs held back. These were strange contraptions that they'd never seen before and had no idea what they were.

Aladar was only mildly shocked by the rover and the buggy. After all, he was bigger then them.

Mitch, who was looking at Aladar in complete and utter bewilderment, had never thought it was possible that a live dinosaur was standing right in front of him. This, and the time rover and buggy, only confirmed his belief that his cousins had kept this time travel stuff to themselves and had lied to him.

He felt a twinge of anger and betrayal inside of him. He cousins were suppose to be his family. Families didn't lie to each other about stuff like this. Though it came to no surprise to Mitch. Shelly and Ken had always thought they were too good for him. The cousins had always hated when he came over to their house for the summer. And Shelly, who had tried to ditch him in the computer lab at the Dino Institute, was telling him what to do here in the age of the dinosaurs? No way!

Mitch dug into his pocket and was about to take out his camera-phone, when he stopped and lowered it back in. He couldn't risk Shelly or Ken seeing him take pictures. He would wait for his chance. His chance to get back at his cousins for being self-righteous lying jerks. And his camera-phone was going to be the key for it.

* * *

:

 _ **Looks like Mitch wants to cause problems for the trio, but I'd like to focus this story around the kids trying to overcome their problems and put moral principles into practice.**_

 _ **And I think Ken will be the perfect example of forgiveness.**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A courtship of emotions

:

Mitch had it all figured out for his scheme. He'd wait until his cousin's were turned and use his camera phone to take pictures.

Only Sophie Luna Wolfheart was the obstacle that was in his way. The twenty-one year old was keeping an eye on him all the time. Mitch couldn't wonder off by himself from the buggy or rover. In fact, he was not allowed to leave the beach. Sophie had made sure of that. It was a good thing he'd kept his camera phone hidden with him the whole time. What he had in mind was to use his phone to take separate photos of the prehistoric world. First the rover and the buggy, then the dinosaur and the lemurs, then the rest if he had time. For now he would wait. Night was coming soon and Sophie had him busy collecting firewood.

Shelly and Ken went off with Aladar and Suri to explore the island. At first, when Shelly had reminded her, Sophie wanted to tag Aladar with the tracking device and then just leave before the meteorite hit. But since that wouldn't happen for two days, she figured they could wait. Besides she liked the lemurs. And it would seem rude of them to just leave all of a sudden without saying goodbye.

So, with no other choice, Sophie decide that they would stay for the rest of the day until tomorrow. Plio and Yar had told Sophie that the courtship ceremony for the lemurs was taking place tomorrow and that they were welcome to join and watch if they liked.

Sophie decided to take that offer at first, but Shelly and Ken were a bit worried about the meteorite that would strike that day. Sophie reassured her two friends that wouldn't happen. And if it did, they would all run down to the beach and leave in the time buggy and rover. Providing the time rover didn't auto transport back to the Dino Institute driver-less.

So for the rest of the evening, while the camp was finished, Shelly and Ken explored around the island with Aladar and Suri. Two other young lemurs who were Suri's friends joined them, curious about the two strange-looking beings. Shelly rode on Aladar's back just behind his neck with Suri while Ken decided it was just safer walking.

By sundown, the sky all aglow with the colours of orange and purple, the kids had had a great time. All but Mitch, who sulked beside the time rover and buggy. Shelly and Ken paid him no mind. If he wanted to be a little grouch, then he could be that way for the rest of his stay with them.

As they got their three sleeping mats out, Sophie could see in the far distance that there was a large tree atop a ridge that stood-out among the others. That, Plio had explained to her, was the great courtship tree where the male and female lemurs would find their would-be mates for life. Zini, Plio's younger and scruffy furred brother, was still a bachelor of the clan. Sophie hoped that he would do his best and succeed tomorrow.

(*)

As the trio slept, each picking a spot to sleep, Mitch had selected a spot for himself between the time buggy and rover. He wasn't given a mat to sleep on because the trio hadn't thought a fourth person was joining them. Mitch didn't want to sleep anywhere near them anyway. Especially Shelly. She had been giving him orders and telling him what to do and acting like Mr. Big, thinking that since she was a time traveller and older then him, she could do whatever she wanted. And Ken was in on it as well. He wouldn't even speak-up for him in the slightest. Where was the loyalty in that?

Then there was Sophie Wolfheart. Mitch really didn't like her or her adult authority. She had made him get firewood all because she thought it would keep him busy. But in reality, Mitch thought, she was doing it to punish him for sneaking along with them on their adventure. During mealtime earlier that afternoon was no different. Mitch was only given an energy bar to munch on while his cousins and Sophie ate ham sandwiches that were packed for themselves. Mitch remembered what Shelly had said to him when she had given him that bar. He had told her that he wanted a sandwich too, but she retorted back, _"It's more then you deserve, you little twerp. You weren't suppose to be here. It's your own fault for not bringing your own food. So clam up and eat."_

When she had gone back to the fire, Mitch felt more anger rush to the surface again. Was it his fault that Shelly and Ken kept their secret of time travel to themselves? No, it was not. If they had shared and had let him be a part of this, he wouldn't have considered going along with his plan. But it was too late for that. Shelly's last action against him had confirmed his belief that she and Ken didn't want him around.

During the night, when the fire had died-down, Mitch had taken his camera-phone and had erased his previous pictures to make room for new ones. These would be the ones of the dinosaur and the time buggy and rover.

Smiling to himself, Mitch put his phone back in his pocket and went to sleep.

(*)

The day of the courtship ceremony had arrived that next morning, and the island was abuzz with activity from the lemurs. But since the courtship ceremony wouldn't begin until the late afternoon, the trio had just enough time to see it before the meteorite would strike the earth. Sophie didn't know when or where it was going to strike, but she wanted to be prepared for whatever happened. So she had the buggy and rover moved to the location of the great tree where the ceremony was taking place. Better that then the beach.

Mitch remained where he was in the rover, not talking to anyone. Shelly and Ken liked that just fine. Less noise from their cousin would make the last days in the late Cretaceous more bearable.

As the day carried on for Mitch, he was only allowed freedom to go and use the bushes for potty breaks. Sophie made sure of that. She had stayed with the buggy and rover the entire time, making sure that Mitch didn't touch none of the equipment or vehicle controls. She really wanted to hang around with the lemurs, but couldn't risk leaving Shelly and Ken's cousin alone. Not with two time vehicles.

So, for the next few hours, it was Sophie keeping an eye on Mitch.

Shelly and Ken were with Suri and Aladar. As the two prehistoric animals played, along with Suri's other friends, Shelly and Ken watched and took pictures with their T.W.C camera-phones. These cameras were strictly to be used for the T.W.C and nothing else. Shelly and Ken had never used their cameras for anything profitable since they had joined. They'd never do that sort of thing.

"It's a pity Josiah is not here," Said Shelly, pocketing her camera. "He would've liked it here with all the sun and sand."

Ken took a picture of Aladar as he playfully had Suri and her friends jumping on his back. "Well, just because we don't have summer jobs, Shelly," He said. "doesn't mean he can't have one."

"I guess you're right," She said.

When Plio showed up with a bunch of flowers in her paws to break-up the playing, it was a sure indication that the courtship was about to begin. When Suri and her friends scampered off and Aladar went down to the beach to find Zini, who was rehearsing pickup lines, Shelly and Ken went to the great tree.

As the sun was beginning to set and the sky turning a purplish orange, Plio had the female lemurs gathered around her. She gave them each a flower that she had picked as she gave her encouragement speech.

Sophie and the others decided to watch the courtship from the sidelines along with those who already had mates.

When Aladar arrived with the bachelor lemurs on his back to the tree, letting out a bellowing call along the way, Sophie could see Zini in the middle. As the males flirted, Zini tried to do the same thing, but got carried away with himself and nearly hopped off Aladar's tail. Luckily he had grabbed the end of Aladar's tail, chuckling sheepishly at the females.

Aladar strolled to the shade of one of the trees near Sophie and her group and settled himself down while the male lemurs leaped into the branches above his head.

Suri let out the call that it was time to start. Zini and the other bachelors joined in. Yar and Plio called out as well. Soon the rest of the clan joined in the call.

Mitch didn't know what to make of this. He winced every time the lemurs let out their calls, his face going red with embarrassment just watching it.

"Why are those monkeys making those stupid sounds for?" Mitch said, turning to Shelly as he placed a hand up to the side of his face. "They sound like a bunch of idiots making noise."

Shelly rounded on him, "You shut up!" She shouted angrily, pointing a finger at his chest. "Don't talk about what you don't understand, got it? This is how the lemurs find mates, it's not stupid or idiotic, so keep your mouth shut and your comments to yourself."

She turned and walked away from him to stand beside Sophie and her brother. Mitch stood where he was, stunned and visibly hurt by what had just happened. He also felt angry, too. All he did was ask a simple question, and she has a spaz right in his face. He didn't know animals called to each other to attract mates.

Furious with his cousin, Mitch climbed back into the time rover and turned away from the great tree, just as Aladar joined in the lemurs chatters with his own bellowing call.

As the courtship continued, Sophie decided to have a talk with Shelly.

"Can't you give him a break?" Sophie asked Shelly quietly as the male lemurs joined the females on the vines.

She shook her head. "Not happening," Shelly said levelly. "Mitch should have figured out by now that he's not welcome here among us. He's an obnoxious tattletale, Sophie, and that's for damn sure. I bet he'll tell Dr. Marsh everything and Dr. Seeker will get in trouble."

Sophie would have agreed to what she meant, but instead said, "Not unless you give him reasons to. Mitch already feels alienated because you and Ken won't acknowledge him as your family."

Shelly didn't reply right away. She watched as the female lemurs, in the ancient way of saying yes to the males, all gave their flowers to their mates. The newly mated pairs climbed into the branches, of the great tree.

When they were all gone, save for Zini who was on a vine by himself, she turned back to Sophie. "He is family, Sophie," Shelly said. "but what kind of family member threatens to tell on you just because they think they can, and blackmail you for it to get what they want?"

"I don't know what to tell you, Shelly," Said Sophie, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's your cousin, so it's best that you handle it the best way that you can."

Shelly nodded and looked up at the tree. And then past it to look up at the sky. What more could the twelve year old want from a cousin who acted like a brat?

* * *

:

 ** _ **This ends, just before the meteor shower starts.**_**

 **_**Hope you like my story.**_**

 **(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do.**

 **Sophie Luna Wolfheart(C) belongs to saphiradragonhert**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Great balls of fire!

:

" _Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception."_

* * *

"Hey guys, check it out," Ken called while pointing up at the sky.

Everyone looked at where Ken was pointing. Shelly and Sophie saw a few comets falling from the darkening atmosphere. Mitch saw them as well because he was glancing up at the sky too.

More and more comets kept falling from the dark-clouded sky and the four humans saw them slip into the ocean in the horizon.

The lemurs and Aladar were watching the sky as well, wonderment and confusion on their faces. They had never seen something like this before. But the time kids had. During their time travel trips through history had allowed them to witness the most spectacular things imaginable. But seeing a meteor shower was something totally new. As more and more comets kept falling from the sky, turning into purple streaks as they landed into the ocean, Sophie felt a little uneasy because more and more of them kept raining down. She wasn't the only one. Plio and Yar were also uneasy. She saw Plio look behind her and saw a flock of birds flying away in the opposite direction while Yar sniffed the air.

He muttered to Plio about something being wrong and Plio hopped over to where Aladar was standing. Sophie heard her ask the Iguanodon were Suri was and he replied that she was up in the tree. But when he had said those words, they had trailed-off. Something bright had caught his attention. Everyone's confusion turned into shock as they all spotted a much larger meteoroid falling from the sky.

"OH MY GOD!" Exclaimed Mitch, his irises growing small.

The giant meteoroid entered the earth's atmosphere and continued to fall, leaving a fiery trail of smoke behind it. The huge hunk of rock flew past the clouds and was about to crash into the ocean. The four young humans braced for impact as everyone else stared in wonder or in fear. The meteor finally crashed down onto the planet's ocean, unleashing a huge bright light. When the light lessened, the sky was suddenly dark as a huge cloud of smoke and ash flew up from where the meteor landed, it's form like a marshmallow cloud. It was like a bomb blew up after being dropped by a military war plane, but it was quiet.

But it didn't last long.

Before anyone could react, the ground suddenly shook violently. The island was being shaken by two tremors generated by the collision. The tremors kept coming, getting everyone into a panic and knocking them off their feet.

As the ground shook harder and rocks were being sent into the air due to the meteor's impact, Sophie realized they had to get out of there at once. She ran to the time rover and shouted, "GUYS! WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE NOW! HURRY!"

Shelly and Ken both got into the time buggy and closed the dome seal down to protect them. Sophie got behind the wheel of the time rover, pushing Mitch out of the driver's seat as she did so.

"Hold on to something, Mitch," She told him as she took the wheel and started to drive away. "things are about to get bumpy!"

Not wanting to be told twice, Mitch held on to the safety bar as the rover started to pick-up speed. The time buggy followed right after it.

What followed next was absolute mayhem. And it was something the four humans would never forget in a hurry.

Both time vehicles sped through the jungle as the ground beneath their wheels shook with the impact of the falling meteor shower. Sophie had lost sight of Aladar and his family as she drove, avoiding fleeing lemurs who were trying to get to safety.

"Why aren't we going back to the future?" Exclaimed Mitch, his eyes wide with fear. "We're gonna' get killed out here!"

Sophie didn't answer him right away because she had spotted something horrible when she had turned around to look behind her. The impact from the giant meteor had created a gigantic cloud of vapour and ash. This 'monster' cloud was proceeding to the island while the meteors kept crashing.

Both time vehicles dodged the descending meteors crashing into the ground as the cloud approached the island closer and closer.

Inside the buggy, Shelly was at the controls but was loosing ground with the rover. The thing about the time buggy Shelly didn't like was the speed. The stupid time vehicle could only do 27 mph at full-speed. And the rover was almost way ahead of them because it was faster. Never the less, they kept driving until they all had reached the edge of lemur island. There was now nowhere for them to run. By this time, the cloud had destroyed the great tree and was getting closer to the four time travellers.

Having no other choice, and no real option, Sophie drove the rover right over cliff and into the ocean. Mitch was screaming the whole way down, clutching the handrail for dear life. With one tremendous splash, the rover landed in the water. The good news was that the vehicle could float, that was the important thing. The bad news was that the circuitry wiring inside the rover's control panel wasn't water-proof. The only luck the vehicle had right at that moment was that it was being driven by Sophie.

The time buggy and it's occupants were safe from getting wet. The bowl-shaped vehicle had converted to it's aqua-sea mode. In water the time buggy's three off-road tires were replaced by two large pontoons. The back rear wheel inverted into a motor that also worked in the water, so the driver didn't have to waste time rowing. And with the dome down protecting them, Shelly and Ken were dry as a whistle from their fall into the ocean.

Mitch and Sophie weren't so lucky. The both of them were drenched from head to toe. Sophie merely just shrugged it off but Mitch, who was coughing and sputtering, was not having a good day getting wet.

Just as the cloud was about to pass over and engulf the entire island, Aladar had jumped into the ocean as well, letting out a bellowing roar as he fell. Luckily, he didn't land anywhere near the four time travellers. They were already making their way to the mainland. Unfortunately, the time buggy had to push the time rover from behind because it didn't come with an engine for itself.

(*)

An hour past before the four humans could make it to the mainland. The time buggy and rover were not made for rough waters. Aladar and his family were already on the shore, exhausted from the long swim. Yar was coughing and Aladar was breathing heavily as he lay on his belly.

The four humans climbed out of their time vehicles and looked around the surrounding area. Sophie, Ken, and Shelly could not believe the destruction the fireball had done. Every brush and every tree was burned down or was still burning. Ash and flecks of burning fragments were still floating around. The smell of burnt wood and the seaside filled everyone's noses and stung their eyes.

"This is terrible, Sophie," Said Shelly as she rubbed her eyes.

"I know, Shelly," Said Sophie, kicking aside a flaming stick. "It's only a miracle that we all survived it."

"Uh, guys," Said Ken, pointing out to the ocean. "Not all of us survived it."

They all turned and saw a dreadful sight across the ocean.

Lemur island was completely destroyed. The island was still burning and smoking, like a hot coal in the middle of the ocean. Sophie knew that nothing could have survived that. Nothing at all. Inside she felt bad for the lemurs who had perished in the fiery flames of the large meteorite's wake.

Shelly and Ken also felt bad for the lemurs as well. They had gotten to know some of them and even spent enough time with them to call them friends.

Mitch didn't feel much of anything. He didn't feel all that sorry for what happened to the lemurs on their island at all since he hadn't gotten to know any of them. He didn't understand why the others, especially his cousins, were feeling down about all this. He then suddenly remembered about his camera-phone and quickly ducked behind the time rover. He took it out of his pocket and checked to see if it still worked. Mitch could not afford to lose his camera-phone now, not here in the age of the dinosaurs. Not if he was going to get back at his cousins. He pressed a few buttons and was relieved when the phone's screen came on, still bright and functional. He quickly turned it off and put it back in his pocket, looking around to make sure nobody saw. He may have been wet and soggy, but his camera-phone still worked.

When he walked out from behind the buggy and joined his cousins, Mitch saw that Aladar and his family were already moving out.

Sophie turned to her companions and said solemnly, "Guys, we can't stay here. We better leave now."

"Good idea," Declared Mitch as he climbed into the rover. "Let's not wait around for another great ball of fire, right?"

"But what about Aladar and his family, Sophie?" Said Shelly, pointing in the direction where the dinosaur and lemurs had gone. "Are we just gonna' leave them?"

Sophie didn't look so sure. "There is nothing we can do for them now, Shelly," She said. "The tracking device that Dr. Seeker gave me may not even work now that it's all wet."

"Sure it will work, Sophie," Piped-up Ken. "That tracking device is water-proof. It can still be used."

"If that's true, Ken," Sophie said as she reached into her pack and took out the device. "Then our task to tag Aladar can still happen."

"Are you guys nuts?!" Yelled Mitch from his seat. "We almost got killed by a flaming ball of fire and a dust cloud to boot! Now you want to go after some stupid dinosaur and tag it so that Dr. Seeker can find it?"

Shelly felt her jaw tighten. "You have a problem with that?"

Mitch cast her a quick glance.

"We would go home if we could, Mitch," Explained Sophie. "but the time rover's time circuitry electrical battery has gotten wet. And, as we told you before, the time buggy can't hold all four of us. So I'm afraid you are stuck here with us until we have completed our task for Dr. Seeker. Or until the circuitry battery has dried."

"And no amount of blackmailing or tattling will help you either, cus," Said Shelly, her hands on her hips and her chin sticking out. "So there."

Mich felt his jaw tighten. He wanted to say something back at Shelly but decided that she would get hers soon enough. Shrugging, he calmed himself and sat back down in his seat, not looking at his cousin.

Turning her attention away from Mitch, Sophie decided it was time for them all to move out.

"Right. Now according to Dr. Seeker," Explained Ken. "The time rover can still run under it's own power, even when wet. He told me that once the tracking homing device is on the dinosaur, the rover will automatically start-up it's time travelling engine and it will instantaneously transport back to the Dino Institute's underground basement."

"Right," said Sophie. "Then let's get going."

Shelly and Ken got back into the buggy and Sophie got behind the wheel of the rover. Knowing on which direction Aladar and his family had gone, Sophie led the way. They drove for about a few minutes but could not find the Iguanodon or lemurs. It was not an easy drive either because the landscape was still burning all around them. Sophie drove carefully and Shelly, who was behind the wheel of the buggy, drove just as carefully. The thing about time travel for the time kids is that it was easy on the tires of the buggy. Not so much for the time rover.

Sophie had locked onto Aladar's location thanks to the homing beacon installed in the rover's navigation screen. She wanted to catch-up with the dinosaur and lemurs, but decided that it was best if they kept their pace the way it was. Beside, she wanted to give the family some space. A lot had happened today. And tomorrow probably wasn't going to be any better for them.

Sophie could still remember seeing little Suri call out to the island to see if any of her clan had survived. But no call had come back to her. Even Aladar, who had let out a loud bellow out to the island as well, knew that none of the lemurs had survived.

But it was survival that they had to do now. And extinction was what they all had to avoid. Extinction may have been the rule, but survival was the exception.

* * *

:

 ** _ **This ends, just before the meteor shower starts.**_**

 **_**Hope you like my story.**_**

 **(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do.**

 **Sophie Luna Wolfheart(C) belongs to saphiradragonhert**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Herd

:

The next day for the four humans wasn't the best. The heat and the rocky motion of the time vehicle didn't help matters for Mitch. The seats in the time rover were not exactly comfy like the time buggy's round seating pads. Mitch and Sophie's clothes had dried somewhat in the humility, but their socks and underclothes were still damp and uncomfortable to wear. Sophie had changed her clothes thanks to her plan-ahead smarts. Mitch was not so lucky. He'd only brought what he was wearing on his back.

They had followed Aladar and his family and had caught up with them, but kept a short distance from them all the same. Aladar had told the time travellers that he and his family were planing on finding a new home.

Right at this minutes things weren't looking so good. There were rocky hills and a few sage brushes here and there, but they weren't good enough to eat. Not to Aladar and the lemurs anyway.

As Sophie drove the rover, Mitch climbed over to the backseats and took out his camera-phone. The pictures he had already taken were good. As he scrolled, Mitch noticed that there were only three bares in the battery. He turned it turned it off. He couldn't risk the battery going dead now. If there were other dinosaurs out here, he needed to get a few good photos. Half would be to blackmail his cousins, but the rest would be for him. He had planned to make himself famous and make lots of money. A lot more then the cheap-change of pocket money his tight parents ever gave him. For now he had to keep his camera-phone hidden.

As the rover continued to drive and the buggy following behind it, Sophie could see that Suri was still a little sad. She didn't blame the little monkey. Losing a home was hard and finding a new one was just as hard.

Just then Aladar stopped, looking over a small rise. Shelly drove-up beside the rover and stopped as well.

"What is it, Sophie? What's going on?" Said Shelly.

"Aladar just spotted something up ahead," Sophie told her, pointing towards where Aladar had just gone. "Let's catch up with him and his family and see."

"We'll check it out from the air," Said Ken. "If it's something dangerous, we'll let you know, Sophie."

Shelly pressed a button on the control panel that activated hover mode for the buggy. The three wheels, like before, converted into jet thrusters. The buggy hovered in the air for a few seconds and then rose higher over the heads of Sophie and Mitch.

Sophie waved to them and continued onward, driving over the rise and into a small valley, which was surrounded by dry, rocky, sandy pillars. Some hisses and quiet squawks were heard as Mitch and Sophie listened closely.

Sophie looked around. She wasn't so sure if that sounded safe, so she moved a bit closer to Aladar and his family. Then, the creature was spotted. It stood on two legs, like a theropod, but it had a long tail that was stiff and balanced, though it was around the size of a wolf. Since it was in the shadows of the rock, Sophie and Mitch couldn't see it very good.

Aladar took a small step towards it, looking at it curiously. Soon, another creature stepped out of the shadows to the original one's side. Then, three others appeared on the right side of Aladar, with three more on his left.

"This doesn't feel right," Sophie mumbled, keeping her hands on the steering wheel.

Suddenly, one of the dinosaurs jumped down and landed right in front of Aladar, hovering over him as it stood on a rock.  
It suddenly roared, shoving it's massive teeth into the Iguanodon's personal space, making him jump back. The lemurs nearly fell off and Suri let out a small scream.

Now Sophie knew what they were. Velociraptors, the swift robber.

Aladar was backed into one of the larger pillars, watching as the predators closed in around him. The dinosaurs were completely ignoring the humans and the time rover, focusing only on Aladar and his family.

Then one of the predators jumped at him, trying to bite his hind leg, but he lifted his limb up quickly enough to make them miss, and ram right into one of the rocks. Head first _._

 _"ALADAR GET OUT OF THERE!" Shouted Sophie, getting the rover in gear and driving away._

 _The Iguanodon didn't need to be told twice. Aladar landed back on all fours, then took his chance and bolted off away from predators at a total run, Sophie driving right behind him. The raptors were right on their tails, squawking in irritation._ They were chased out of the rocky hill area and onto the open landscape, where a sandstorm was raging. The lemurs held onto Aladar's back as he ran as fast as he could. One raptor grabbed onto Aladar's flank and bit into his hide. He let out a pained roar but kept on going.

While Sophie concentrated on driving and avoiding the raptors, Mitch saw Shelly and Ken in the time buggy hovering overhead. Though it was hard for him to see since a sandstorm had just arisen out of nowhere.

Before anymore attacks could happen, the raptors spotted something in the distance. The raptor on Aladar's flank jumped off and joined his fellow predators. The raptors stopped pursuing Aladar, his family, and the time rover.

"ALADAR THEY'RE STOPPING!" Sophie heard Plio call out through sandstorm.

Aladar slowed, Sophie doing the same. But then, a giant bellow, that sounded somewhat similar to Aladar's, sounded from somewhere beside them in the storm. Aladar looked ahead, but before he could react, he was suddenly pushed down onto the ground. Another Iguanodon was marching by.

"STAY OUT OF MY WAY!" He yelled as he walked over Aladar fallen form.

A brown one followed him, "You heard Kron, move it!"  
Then he purposely knocked the time rover out of his way, smashing the front headlights and denting the hood. The impact knocked Mitch right out of the back row seat, spilling him onto the dirt ground.

"Mitch!" Sophie cried out, putting the rover in reverse. As she did, avoiding to hit Mitch, she saw hundreds of more dinosaurs walking in one direction in the blustery sandstorm. She saw hundreds of Iguanodons, but also Parasaurolophus. They were all in various ages; adolescent and full-grown.

Above the herd, Shelly and Ken couldn't see very much. Shelly steered the buggy and flew it ahead of the herd, keeping it high enough so that she and Ken were above sandstorm.

Mitch got to his shakily to his feet, waving his hands around blindly because he had his eyes in a squint because of the blowing sand.

"Mitch! Get out of the way!" Sophie yelled, driving up beside him and grabbing him by his arm. She pulled him back into the time rover's front row seat, keeping a hand on the steering wheel.

Sophie and Mitch watched as the little ceratopisian dinosaurs scurried to catch up with the larger and heavier Pachyrhinosaurus.

Then they both heard a whale-like bellow and loud footsteps coming from behind them. As they turned around, they saw something that was big. A gigantic dinosaur with enormous legs, a long tail and a long neck was walking right towards them.

It was a Brachiosaurus. The long necked dinosaur was bellowing and didn't pay attention to Aladar or the two humans or time rover.

Sophie looked on in complete awe at seeing such a dinosaur. Then she suddenly remembered that it couldn't see her or Mitch in the rover. She quickly drove out of the way of the dinosaur's large feet, squinting in the sandstorm's wind.

When they were far enough away, Sophie and Mitch turned and saw the Brachiosaur walk over Aladar and his family and then move on ahead.

"Walking backwards, huh? Well, let me know if that gets you there any faster. Keep those little legs moving Url, or you'll get left behind!" An elderly Styracosaur exclaimed as she passed by Aladar, calling back to a young ankylosaurus travelling behind her.

Sophie drove to the edge of the hill, Aladar following behind, and all of them stared down in awe as the dust cleared some, revealing the actual size of the herd travelling forward. There were probably hundreds of dinosaurs at least.

Aladar was amazed at the large number of dinosaurs that looked just like him.

"Look at all the Aladars," Sophie heard Suri say.

Yar, all of a sudden, saw where this was going when he saw the looked on Aladar's face. "If you're even thinking about joining up with…" Before Yar could finish, Zini suddenly yelped and grabbed onto him in fear. They all heard a growling sound. It was the raptors they had encountered earlier. They were back and ready for another round of chase.

"Hang on, hang on!" Aladar exclaimed, running down the hill and following after the herd. Sophie told Mitch to hang on as well and drove after Aladar and his family. As much as she liked raptors, she didn't want to be eaten by them.

Meanwhile, the herd suddenly slowed down until coming to a complete stop by a large rocky pillar on a hill. They all came to attention as the Iguanodon leaders up ahead looked over them. Aladar and his family appeared alongside the Brachiosaurus and old Styracosaurus and spotted the two Iguanodons that had pushed them out of the way in the sandstorm.

Sophie drove up to the two elderly dinosaurs and parked herself near a hill with a rock column. She and Mitch got out of the rover, dusting themselves off.

"That was some sandstorm, Sophie," Mitch coughed, dusting off his pants and shirt.

"You can say that again." Said Sophie as she fixed her hair. "We're just lucky that we didn't get trampled by that herd."

"Got that right," Called a voice from above.

Looking up, Sophie and Mitch saw Shelly and Ken descending to the ground slowly. The buggy's jet thrusters slowly converted back to their all-terrain wheel form. When they landed, Shelly and Ken got out.

"Are you guys okay?" Ken said, walking up to Sophie.

"I'm fine, Ken," Sophie said smiling. "It'll take more then some dust storm to get my hopes down."

"When we saw the herd from above and the sandstorm, we thought that you and the rover were done for." Said Shelly.

Sophie let out a short laugh. "Well, it was thanks to my driving skills that really saved me and the rover."

Mitch, having enough of being ignored, said loudly, "Hey! What am I? Chop liver or something? I almost got trampled by those dinosaurs and..."

Shelly glared at him. "And you're still standing, aren't you?"

Mitch paused, unable say anything else except, "Well, yeah, I guess."

"Then what are you complaining about? Clam up." Shelly told him, waving a dismissing hand at him.

Mitch growled under his breath, his fists clenched.

"Just you wait, you self-satisfied, tomboy prig," Mitch thought as he turned away to sit in the rover. "Once I get back home to our own time period with the photos I've taken, everybody will know about your 'T.W.C' and then you'll be sorry."

* * *

 _:_

 _Hope you like my story._

 _(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do._

 _Sophie Luna Wolfheart(C) belongs to saphiradragonhert_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Crossing the desert

:

A few minutes passed as the herd started to settle down and find places to rest for the night. Bruton, the large brown Iguanodon, had given out a loud bellow to the herd a while ago. The herd pushed and shoved each other just to settle in the right place to sleep or settle down.

Sophie, Ken, Shelly, and Mitch had made a temporary camp by the rock column on the hill, parking the two time vehicles side by side.

Each of the kids, save for Mitch, had introduced themselves to Eema and Baylene, the elderly Styracosaur and Brachiosaur that were at the end of the herd. With them was Url, the small but young Ankylosaur.

Aladar had introduced himself and his family as well.

Baylene, according to Eema, was the last of her kind and that stragglers like her were always found along the way.

"I heard you say something earlier about _nesting grounds_ , correct?" Said Shelly as she walked up to Eema.

"It is the most beautiful place there is, child." Eema smiled at her. "It's where the herd goes to have their babies."  
"Will we find anyone that looks... like us there?" Suri asked, curiously.

Eema chuckled, "The last few days, I've seen 'em all shapes and sizes. Who knows what we'll find. The hard job now is just _getting_ there."  
"And we're being driven unmercifully." Baylene sighed, bringing her head down next to Aladar.

"By who?" Asked Aladar.

"Kron, the herds head honcho." Eema said, a bit of an attitude to her voice.

"We can hardly keep up. An older woman like myself, it's most positively indecent." Baylene explained, frowning slightly as she spoke to Aladar.

"Then tell him." Aladar said with a small chuckle. "What's the worst he can do?"

Suddenly, Url let out a startled shriek. Everyone looked and saw Kron, Bruton and the crimson coloured Iguanodon, Neera, walking towards them. Bruton snorted at Url, making the young ankylosaur scamper away, while Kron discourteously nudged Aladar aside.

"Hey!" Aladar grunted. "what's his problem?"

"Talk about rude," Said Ken, who had gotten out of the way of Bruton along with Url.

Eema took it upon herself to answer. "That's him, honey." She said, nodding towards the larger Iguanodon. "Kron."

As Aladar went to have a word with Kron, Sophie took Shelly and Ken aside. They stood by Baylene's large legs, keeping out of sight of Kron and Bruton.

"This Kron guy looks like some sort of stiff costumer, Sophie," Said Shelly. "Did you see the size of him?"

"He's huge," Added Ken. "And so is that Bruton."

"Size has nothing to do with it," Said Sophie, nodding to Kron who had turned away from Aladar with a loud snort. "the herd is the real size here. Kron has young ones here among the adults who won't be able to keep up with the herd if he pushes them hard."

"So what's your plan?" Said Ken as he watched Aladar walk back to the others.

Sophie sighed and scratched the back of her head. "Right now we need to take stock on what we have right now. Let's check and see what we have."

They went back to the time rover and buggy. As they rummaged around for the necessary rations, Ken looked up to where the raptors were. They were still standing far away from the herd on a rise, squawking amongst themselves.

Sophie heard Eema say to Aladar, "Well, you just consider yourselves lucky. That's all that's following us."

She didn't like the sound of that when she turned back to look at the raptors, one of which snarled and looked in their direction.

So far what the kids had found were three bottles of water, all of which were full to the brim and hadn't been drunk from. A few of their food packets and a pair of sunglasses, but nothing else in the buggy. There were some flashlights and a few emergency flares in the trunk of the rover and their sleeping mats, but not much else. What was really important, that Sophie had found, was the high quality Supplier/Reseller Diercon portable water filter. That, Sophie knew, made water reliable and safe to drink should they run out. The filter could hold up to 5000L depending on the water quality. Sophie had made it clear that she was the only one able on how to use the filter properly. Of course this was just in case they ran out of water.

As the sun started to set behind the clouds, the three time travellers setup their sleeping mats. Though they set them up a little closer to the now four dubbed 'misfits' of the herd. Mitch wasn't given a mat to sleep on again so he had to find someplace else to sleep. Baylene, who had settled herself down for the night, offered Mitch a place to sleep by the base of her tail. Not wanting to sleep on the hard ground again or in the time rover, he decided to take Baylene up on that offer. Beside, he didn't want to be anywhere near his cousins. Or near Sophie.

As darkness fell, Shelly, Ken, and Sophie had settled themselves around a small portable battery powered lamp. They were deep in discussion about the next morning's travel across the desert. So far Ken was not liking where this could lead to.

"I just know I'm going to get sunburned for this," Ken muttered, rubbing the back of his neck where a sunburn would appear. "And we don't even know how long it'll take to get to the lake."

"Eema told me that the lake is about a day or two away from where we are now," Explained Sophie. "We can hold out until we reach it. I'll drive the rover behind Aladar and the others, and you two can follow behind in the the buggy. We'll stay in Baylene's shadow. It should help with the sun's glare."

"Sounds like a plan, Sophie," Yawned Shelly as she tucked herself into her sleeping bag. "Goodnight, guys."

"Night," Sophie and Ken said together. Ken turned off the lamp and snuggled into his sleeping bag.

Sophie didn't go to sleep right away. She climbed out of her sleeping bag and went over to where Aladar and the others were settled down to sleep. She walked over to where Baylene was and saw that Mitch was sitting down upon her hind leg, resting his head on her hide. He was still awake but Sophie could see that he was just about to nod off.

"Hey, Mitch," She called to him quietly. "You still awake?"

Mitch mumbled and turned to face her. "Yeah, I'm awake."

"I need to have a word with you, if you don't mind."

"Do whatever you want. I'm only a stowaway, remember?" Mitch grumbled as she crossed his arms.

"Wanna tell me what's bothering you?" Sophie asked.

"Nothing," Mitch told her.

"You and Shelly and Ken seem to have some sort of tension going on between yourselves," Sophie pointed out.

"They're jerks," Mitch glared. "especially Shelly."

"Now I know that's not true." Sophie chided him gently. "They are your cousins. And you have no right to insult Shelly by calling her a jerk."

Mitch turned his head away. "She acts like some sort of Mr. Big. Walking around telling me what to do, what not to do. Well, I'm tired of it."

"Let me tell you, this group doesn't play favourites, alright?" Sophie said as she turned to leave. "And Shelly and Ken are getting pretty tired of you and your behaviour as well. You brought this upon yourself when you snuck aboard the time rover. You came here unprepared except to blackmail and tattle on both Shelly and Ken. I don't want to see you guys at each others throats all the time. So my advice to you is to try and get along with your cousins. Goodnight."

She walked away, melting into the darkness of the night. Mitch saw only her dark outline through the moonlight.

Mitch turned back onto his side, trying to get comfortable on Baylene's leg. The rhythmic sounds coming from the elderly Brachiosaur made the eleven year old drift off to sleep within a few minutes. But during those minutes that he was drifting off, Mitch thought long and hard about what Sophie had talked to him about. His behaviour was his business, not theirs. And it was family business between cousins, not complete strangers. Sure he may have snuck aboard the rover and threatened to tell Dr. Marsh about the unauthorized trip through time, but it was only because he wanted to be a part of something cool. Not get left out. And now that he was a part of this, he didn't feel like he belonged in the group at all.

(*)

The next morning came a little early for the herd of dinosaurs. The sun had risen over the hill slowly, but it sure seemed fast. The herd stirred awake as the sun shining brought a new day. After yawning and stretching their legs, they got up and starting gathering.

Sophie, Shelly, and Ken had packed up their thing, gotten Mitch awake, and had joined the gathering dinosaurs on the rise of a hill that overlooked the vast desert.

"I don't like the looks of this," Said Shelly uncertainly. "Are you sure we can make it across that in the time buggy?"

Ken waved her concern aside. "Of course," he said. "The buggy, as I told you before, sis, runs on a solar-power battery. And thanks to the futuristic solar panels on each side of the buggy from 2035, the vehicle can keep going and going. Just like an energizer bunny. The rover, on the other hand..."

"Not to worry," Said Sophie as she placed a hand on the rover's top-back section where the two blue Tachyon storage unites were. "Dr. Seeker already told me that the tachyon power that runs the rover can last for weeks with no recharging. So we're good."

"okay then," Ken said, clapping his hands. "Let's mount-up and get ready to move out."

They all got into their time vehicles, started their engines, and drove amongst the gathering dinosaurs to where Kron and Bruton were positioned, though they kept out of sight of the two. Meeting them once was enough.

Sophie overheard Kron say to Bruton, "We've got a lot of first timers here. Make sure they get it. We stop for nothing, and no one."

Sophie had a distinct impression that Kron was talking about Aladar because she saw him in the very front of the heard a little ways off with Zini.

"If this is your first crossing, listen up!" Bruton announced, his voice booming over the herd. "There is no water until we reach the other side. And you better keep up 'cause if a predator catches you, you're on your own. Move out!"

With that said, Bruton let out a bellow, signalling the herd to start moving. Kron walked ahead with Neera and the herd started to follow him.

The other lemurs got onto Aladar's back as the elderly dinosaurs and Shelly and Ken drove up.

"Oh my goodness," Baylene said as she looked over the herd and to the horizon. "It looks like a very long walk."

"And hot," Added Eema, "If you smell something sizzling, it could be me."

"That we can agree on," Ken commented, looking out at the flat horizon.

"It's a sizable desert with a lot of ground and no water, and that's where we're heading, little brother." Said Shelly as she drove the buggy right alongside the rover. "Sophie, are we ready for this?"

Sophie gave them a determined look and said, "We're ready. Now let's go."

(*)

The herd had begun the long migration to the Nesting Grounds. The four humans travelled behind the herd with Aladar and his family, Baylene, Eema, and Url. They were dubbed the 'misfits' by the rest of the herd because it was strange seeing such a group of different species together taking up the rear.

The walk was merciless and very tiring for the dinosaurs. And with the heat beating down on them 24/7 a day, it got really hot as well. There was no food and utterly no water; just an endless extensive of sand. And it didn't even help that Kron had been pushing the heard relentlessly. Eema and Baylene were tired and panting, but Aladar, stayed with them, not letting them fall too far behind. His lemur family rode on Eema's back, just underneath her frill to escape the harsh sunlight.

The only ones in the back who were not feeling much of the heat or fatigue were Sophie and her group. With the time buggy and CTX rover to ride in, the humans didn't need to walk. The sunlight didn't bother them much. California sunlight and humidity was what the kids were use to back home in the future. This desert was nothing. And with three water bottles with them, and a filter, there was no risk of them running out.

Shelly and Ken had their own battles of water to drink from and so did Sophie. Mitch wasn't so lucky. He and Sophie had to share the only bottle she had, and he drank more then her.

More then once, Shelly had to tell her cousin off for drinking more then Sophie's share while she drove. But all he said back at her was, "So I'm drinking my share now, what do you care? You and Ken have your own bottles, so mind your own business."

Shelly clenched her jaws and felt her hands become fists again on the steering hold of the buggy, wishing that she could take a swing at him. But then she remembered what Sophie had told her, and calmed down. She drove back into the shadows of Baylene's walking form, keeping the sun out of her eyes. No point in getting into a fight now.

When night came upon the desert, the heat finally died down a little. But wasn't enough for a lone Struthiomimus who had died from exhaustion. The raptors, who had been fallowing the herd for some time, finally had a meal to eat that night.

Ken had turned around in his seat in the buggy and had watched them feed. The words Eema had said before came back to him.

" _Well, You just consider yourself lucky that's all that's following us,"_

What had she meant by that? Were there other predators out here that they had to worry about?

* * *

:

 _ **Hope you like my story.**_

 _ **(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do.**_

 _ **Sophie Luna Wolfheart(C) belongs to saphiradragonhert**_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The dry lake bed

:

The following night for Mitch was not good. It was cold. What little warmth he had came from his own clothes he had on his back. A t-shirt didn't cut it for upper body warmth much. He drove it aside as he sat in the backseat row of the rover, his legs crunched up to his chest on the floor. Sleep was almost impossible. The motion of the rover over the sand was soothing, but the whole thing felt like sleeping on a moving ship through the waves. It did not do much for his stomach. While Sophie kept on driving through the night, he had taken out his camera-phone to check once again on the photos he'd taken. The new ones were perfect. Good lighting, well placed shots, and a few good wide angles for measure. All that was left was to get a photo of the younger dinosaurs. Mitch knew which ones to get. The two young Iguanodon twins that were always travelling around with that Neera, Kron's sister. Even though he had gotten a few pics of the baby dinosaurs in the herd already, he had to make sure that he was in the shot as well. He had to make sure that no one saw that they were fake when he got back home. Of course, he kept his camera hidden at all times when his cousins were around. If they had found out that he had it with him, they would stop at nothing to get him to erase the photos inside and probably take it away. Well, that wasn't happening. He just had to be careful, that's all.

The night finally became the day and the heat was back with a vengeance. Only this time it was taking it's toll on the two elderly dinosaurs in the back. Baylene was struggling to move faster and Eema had collapsed to the ground with a tired groan. Aladar and Sophie, who had stopped the rover and had gotten out, tried getting Eema to her feet.

"Come on, on your feet, Eema," Grunted Aladar as he helped her to get her to stand. "We can't let those things eat you. They're out there waiting."

"He's right, Eema," Sophie uttered as she pushed. "Those raptors could be still behind us."

Eema panted and started moving again. This had been the second time she had collapsed, and Sophie was worried. She got back in the rover and drove on, Shelly and Ken following close behind her. Sophie hoped that they got to the lake soon before anything bad happened. What water there was left in her bottle was now only a quarter-half. Mitch had drunk nearly all of her share. Sure she was thirsty, but Mitch needed it more then she did. That's how selfless she was.

After another two hours of walking for the dinosaurs and driving for the humans, Bruton and Kron came to a stop near a hill. They had paused for a moment or two but quickly resumed walking while roaring and bellowing to the herd behind them. The herd was also tired from the unforgiving heat and walk. But they all soon realized that something was up ahead, something that could save their lives.

"Hey, what's going on?" Shelly asked Sophie. "Why are all the dinosaurs so excited?"

"The lake," Sophie explained. "We finally made it."

"It's just over that… that hill, baby!" The Styracosaur gasped with joy.

"Oh thank goodness…" Baylene tiredly said as she did her best to keep up.

"Come on Eema! Water! Remember water?" Aladar said to her as a form of motivation.

"Well, it's time to refresh… my memory!" Eema smiled and pushed on up the hill.

"Come on, guys," Sophie called to Shelly and Ken. "It's time to refill!"

The herd continued up the hill. They were all looking forward to getting water after a long walk. But as Kron got to the top of the hill with the two young Iguanodon siblings, he was shocked at what he was seeing. There was actually no water. Instead there was a dry lake bed with sand and a few skeletons of dead dinosaurs. The rest of the herd appeared at the top of the hill and were surprised to see that there no water either.

The four humans arrived to the top as well, and stopped their time vehicles right where they were. Sophie could not believe at what she was looking at. No water at all. Nothing.

Eema was slowly following behind Aladar and Baylene and her voice echoed through the area.

"I'm just gonna walk right into that lake," Eema panted as she lumbered up the hill, "until the water's up to my eyeballs, and soak it all in." But upon arrival, she, like Aladar and the rest of the herd was very disappointed. She let out a sad sigh.

The herd stood there, staring at the lake. Sophie, Shelly, Mitch and Ken, got out of their vehicles and stood with Aladar and the others. But soon that moment of grief and disappointment they all felt was interrupted by the echo of Kron's command.

"The Nesting Grounds are only a few days away! Keep moving!" The purplish Iguanodon commanded.

The herd was stunned by what their leader had just said. They were hardly breathing and in hopeless need of water. Reluctantly, they all turned to the left along the lake and started moving out.

"What? We're moving already? Oh we'll never keep up…" Baylene said as she looked on at the now departing herd.

"There was water here," Eema whimpered as she wondered into the lake bed to moan. "Always water here before."

Aladar made his way to Eema's side. He was followed by Plio and the others of his family. Sophie followed after them. Mitch stayed by the rover. Not because Shelly would tell him to sooner or later, but because he wanted to get more photos of the dinosaurs. Shelly and Ken were already following Sophie down into the lake bed. Mitch couldn't understand why his cousins would care about some old dinosaur who was thirsty. Not when they had their own water. Oh well.

"Oh Eema please," Said Baylene who was walking slowly down to her friend. "The herd won't wait. We must carry on."

Sophie, who had Shelly and Ken helping her, was beside Eema with Aladar, who was trying to get the old dinosaur onto her feet. It didn't really help that Eema was heavy and that she was not supporting herself at all.

"You've got to get up!"Aladar grunted as he tried to help Eema again. Sophie got in there too. Even Shelly and Ken did as well.

"There was water everywhere," Eema muttered.

"There is no water dear," Baylene told her as she kept walking. But as she kept walking, there was a sound of something cracking under her feet. Aladar and the others stopped what they were doing and turned to Baylene. Zini had noticed as well when he'd stopped next to her foot.

"Baylene… don't move," Aladar told the elderly sauropod and quickly walked up to her.

"Oh, what is it?" The elderly Brachiosaur reared back a little. "What's wrong?"

Zini put his head close to the ground. "Do you hear that," He asked Aladar, who had also heard the sound.

Sophie came over and did the same. "There's something under there," Said, turning to Aladar.

"I sure do," Replied Aladar, "lift your foot, Baylene."

Baylene lifted her foot up and the three began digging from the footprint. Aladar shovelled out clumps of dirt with his left foot. Sophie and Zini started to dig along with him. Ken came over and started to help as well. Shelly stayed with Emma and Plio, who had a paw on her beak to comfort her.

"Now press down," Aladar told Baylene. When he said that, Sophie, Ken and Zini backed away to allow the armed foot to come down. Once Baylene put her foot back in the hole and pressed down onto the ground, it sunk in and water began to fill the hole!

"WAHOO!" Zini cheered, hopping on the spot. "I always did like big girls!"

"Water…!" Aladar gasped and backed up a little.

"Oh my goodness!" Baylene reared her head back in delight.

"Animal Planet eat your heart out!" Ken laughed and jumped for joy.

"Oh, thank god," Sophie breathed, feeling a trickle of sweat run down the side of her face. "I didn't know if I could last much longer."

Aladar reared his head back and bellowed into the air. The herd stopped moving and turned to see what had happened. Even Kron and Neera stopped to investigate.

"Water, come on!" Aladar yelled, nodding his head to beckon the herd back to the lake bed.

Aladar dug around the watering hole and made it a little deeper. Nearby, the lemurs were hopping alongside a tired Eema, who was desperately walking towards the pool as fast as she could. Shelly was right by her side with them.

"That's it Eema. Come drink," Baylene gestured to her friend in a comforting voice.

Together, the prehistoric friends began drinking the much needed liquid of life. Sophie, Ken and Shelly backed up a little so that they weren't in the way. Smiling, Shelly and Sophie took out their camera-phones and started taking photos. They knew that the T.W.C and the Dino Institute would love these. And Dr. Seeker would have a field day wanting to know more about their trip. Unfortunately, the mood didn't last long.

Kron appeared. Aladar stopped drinking and perked his head up at him when he came towards them. Except for him and Sophie's group, the others kept on drinking.

"Kron, look," Aladar said, nodding to the waterhole. "all we have to do was dig and…"

"Good," Kron interrupted rudely. "Now get out of the way!"

Kron suddenly roared right at everyone near the hole, trying to make them back off. Everyone was intimidated by Kron's bellowing roar as they scattered or backed away, but Sophie was not having it.

"What's your problem, you jerk?" Sophie snapped at him. "There is plenty of water for..."

"No time for that, Sophie!" Ken told her as he grabbed her arm. "Here comes a stampede!"

Everyone noticed the herd stampeding towards them. All of them felt the vibrations from the footfalls coming closer and closer.

"Run for the shore!" Sophie yelled, grabbing Ken's hand and running. Shelly sprinted ahead of the two as the herd got closer.

"WAIT! WAIT, THERE'S ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE," Aladar shouted as he tried to stop the oncoming herd. But no dinosaur was listening to him. They were all very thirsty and ran right past him, knocking him aside. The herd approached the drinking Kron and started pushing and shoving in an attempt to get at the water.

Sophie and the other got back to the shore where the buggy and rover were. Mitch was stuffing something into his pocket a they approached, but Sophie didn't see what it was since her vision was a bit blurry from the heat and the running.

They stood there, by their vehicles panting hard, watching the disappointing spectacle continue. A cloud of dust was in the air and they couldn't see much of where their dinosaur friends were except Baylene, who was the tallest.

They did here Aladar yell out scornfully, "That's it keep pushing and shoving. That's very helpful."

They also noticed Kron roar loudly to scare off the dinosaurs near the water hole. He was refusing to share the water with anyone else, even the younger dinosaurs.

Sophie shook her head in disappointment. "Boy, guys, he really is selfish, isn't he?"

Shelly wiped her forehead with her green bandana. "I feel bad for the youngsters in the herd the most. They get treated the worst. At least no one got trampled."

"We didn't, did we?" Said Ken. "We're still standing. But now we won't be able to refill our water bottles. Not with that lot down there mucking it up."

Sophie got into the rover's front seat and sat back with her feet up. "Then we better wait until they leave, guys," She said. "I won't be able to use the filter with them stomping around."

(*)

The sun was not fully down yet so there was still some light. It was evening and everyone in the herd was pretty much asleep. Everyone except for Sophie and her group. They had made their own waterhole and used the filter to get clean water to refill their bottles. It was slow going to filter the sediment from the waterhole and purify it enough so that it was drinkable. Outdoor water purification was what Sophie Luna Wolfheart was best at.

As the group refilled their bottles, Mitch took it upon himself to sneak off and take pictures of the sleeping herd, keeping well out of sight of the others. This was the chance he was waiting for, and he had to take it.

The problem was the dinosaurs were sleeping. Well, all except Kron, but Mitch didn't want to go anywhere near him. Neera was up as well, so he went to find her. But for some odd reason, she wasn't around. Just when he was about to give up and go back to the others, he spotted something hopping up on a hill to his right. He recognized it as Suri, Plio's daughter, who was making her way up the hill towards a small cave. Curious, he went to check it out. When he made it up the small hill to where Suri was, the little lemur hopped back a little from his approach.

"Oh, it's just you," Suri said, giving Mitch a shy smile. "You're Shelly and Ken's cousin, right? Uh, Mitch was it?"

"Yeah, that's right," Mitch said as he got onto his knees. "And you must be Suri. My cousin Shelly told me about you."

"Strange," Suri said, tilting her head a bit. "Shelly barely mentioned you. I mean, I've seen you with her and Ken, but not together like me and my family."

Mitch frowned and turned his eyes away from her. He felt a little angry that his own cousin wouldn't even mention him to their prehistoric friends. Why? Was she and Ken to good for him?

"What's the matter?" Asked Suri, placing a paw on Mitch's arm.

Mitch shook his head and looked at her. "It's nothing, Suri," He told her as he took out his camera-phone. "So... what's going on here?"

Suri pointed to the cave and Mitch saw the same two young Iguanodon babies from before. They were huddled as far back in the small, overhang cave as they could, whimpering.

"I've been trying to persuade the little Aladars to come out of there," Suri explained to Mitch, ignoring he camera-phone in his hand. "They haven't had any water to drink, and I think they're scared of me. And now that you're here, Mitch, I think it's the both of us."

Mitch smiled at the little Iguanodons and tried to take a picture. But it was too dark for the screen to adjust to the lighting, and using a flash photo would be a bad idea. It would frighten them and cause them not to come out. He had to hurry before is cousins saw that he was gone or else he'd be in trouble.

* * *

:

 _ **Hope you like my story.**_

 _ **(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do.**_

 _ **Sophie Luna Wolfheart(C) belongs to saphiradragonhert**_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Confrontations and Separations

:

As Mitch and Suri continued to try and persuade the young Iguanodons to come out of the cave, Aladar had woken up to their sounds.

"No, you come out on three; one… two… three." Said Suri.

Aladar got up to see what was happening.

"Come on, come on out. No one's gonna hurt you." Suri said.

Mitch held out his hand again to get them to come out of the cave. "Come on, little guys," Mitch cooed as sweetly as he could. "We're not going to bite or anything."

"Hey, hey. What's going on?" Smiled Aladar as he approached.

"The little Aladars haven't had anything to drink." Explained Suri.

"I think they're scared of us." Said Mitch as he tried to take another picture of the baby dinos.

"Well, who wouldn't be? You two ARE pretty scary." Smiled Aladar.

Then Suri growled playfully at the hatchlings. Mitch just rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Come on over, guys." Chuckled Aladar to the twins. But the young dinosaurs were terrified of them, and refused to move.

"Take it easy. Don't worry. Suri's just a hairball." Smiled Aladar as he turned away. "And Mitch is Shelly's cousin. He's harmless."

"And proud of it," Suri added with pride. "Come on, he's gonna find you some water."

After hearing that Aladar will find them some water, the babies came out of the cave at last. A little ways off, but not that far, Aladar guided the two twins to a spot in the lake and started digging. Mitch stood beside the two young dinosaurs and started taking pictures.

"Here. Now, you just take a foot and PRESS." Grunted Aladar as he pressed down on the hole. Water immediately started to appear, flowing out from the ground. One youngster started for it, but the other one snarled and snapped at it. Then both of them started fighting over who got to drink first.

"Hey, hey, hey. Come on. Come on. Knock it off!" Scolded Aladar, trying to calm the both of them. "Let's work together here, huh? A little teamwork."

The two settled down just enough so that Aladar could press down again. "Ready? One, two, three. Press!" Said Aladar to the twins. All three of them pressed down on the water hole together, and more water came out. With that, the two babies began drinking up.

Mitch took one final picture of the two Iguanodons before putting his camera away.

"Good job, Suri." said Aladar. "You too, Mitch."

Mitch looked up at Aladar, unsure what to say to that.

"No... problem," Was all that Mitch said as he scratched the back of his head.

"So, where are your parents, anyway?" Aladar asked the two youngster.

"A lot of us are on our own now," Neera said as she walked towards Aladar from the shadows. "you like kids, I see."

"Well, the skinny ones can be a little chewy." Joked Aladar. Neera chuckled, understanding the joke.

"I'm Aladar… the 'Jerkasaurus'." Said Aladar as he moved away from Suri, Mitch, and the youngsters, and approached her.

"Oh… sorry about that," Neera apologized, feeling a bit ashamed.

But Aladar apparently didn't mind the comment that much. "You're probably right," He said.

(*)

As Neera and Aladar walked away to talk alone, Mitch stayed with the two Iguanodon youngsters and Suri. As the two continued to drink from the waterhole, Mitch took that chance to take a video of them. At first the little guys didn't know what Mitch was holding, or why they had themselves inside that small device that made them look small. But Suri was most interested in the camera-phone. She had already seen the others camera-phones, but seeing another one always fascinated her curiosity. Mitch was more then happy to show her how it worked. He even let her hold it so that she could take a photo of him. That would be his last mistake.

Without warning, Suri dashed away, Mitch's camera-phone still in the grip of her paws.

"Hey! Come back here with that!" Mitch shouted at her, running after the young lemur.

Suri giggled playfully, leaping out of Mitch's reach. Mitch tried to catch her and get his camera-phone back, before the others saw it. As if reading his mind, Suri hopped in the direction of Sophie and his cousins. Panicking, Mitch tried to grab at the leaping lemur. But Suri just danced even faster until she was right in front of Sophie and the others. Mitch stopped dead in his tracks, panting. Suri, being a lemur, wasn't even out of breath. But she was giggling.

Shelly noticed the camera-phone in Suri's paw. Then she looked directly at Mitch. "What's going on here, Mitch? Why is Suri holding a camera-phone? Is this yours?"

Mitch gaped. "Uh, I-"

Then Shelly's eyes narrowed as she took the phone from Suri and looked at it more carefully. "It _**is**_ yours, isn't it?" She said finally in a accusing tone.

"What?" Said Ken, looking at Mitch. "You had a camera-phone with you all this time?"

"Wait! It's not what you think-" Began Mitch.

"Oh, it isn't?" Said Shelly scornfully as she scrolled through the screen to the gallery page. When she found what was in the gallery, her scornful gaze turned into a death glare. "Then explain why there are pictures of the time buggy, rover, us, and the dinosaurs in here."

"Well," Said Mitch as he backed up a little. "You see-"

"Safe it!" Shelly snapped. "I can read you like a book, Mitch. I have you all figured out." When Mitch couldn't meet her eyes, she continued. "You were planning to use these photos to blackmail us, is that right?"

Mitch shot back rather weakly, "Yeah, so what? They're my photos and it's my camera! What I do with them is my business."

 _ **SLAP!**_

Shelly had smacked Mitch across the side of his face with all the strength she could muster. Sophie gasped, her eyes wide, and Ken had his mouth open in complete surprise. Suri gasped as well and placed her paws on her mouth. Not wanting to stay and witness what was going to happen next, she hopped away quickly back to her mother and the others.

Mitch staggered backward and landed on his rear, rubbing the spot on his cheek where he had been hit. He looked ruthlessly up at Shelly. But the tomboy was just getting started.

"You backstabbing, poisonous little jerk!" Shelly yelled, spit flying from her mouth. "I always knew you were a creep, but I never thought that you would try something like this!"

She shook the phone in his face, her finger tightening around it like she wanted to crush it between her fingers.

Sophie decided that it was best to intervene now before things got even more unpleasant. She placed a restraining hand on Shelly's shoulder.

She looked at Mitch, who was still rubbing his cheek which had now reddened.

"Why did you do it, Mitch?" Sophie asked him, a hint of disappointment in her tone. "Why would you do this to your cousins, your family?"

Mitch got to his feet and faced Sophie. "Because I was never treated like family, not by them. Just because I tattle a little and sometimes blackmail, it doesn't mean that they can treat me like an outsider."

"You've been giving them reasons to," Said Sophie. "Tattling, blackmailing, being obnoxious, and downright malicious. Shelly and Ken have tried to be patient with you when I asked them to, but that didn't seem to work."

Mitch scoffed. "Just because they are part of some time travelling group they think they're big shots. They think they can just sweep me aside every time I come for a visit at their house."

"That's because we've heard all we could from the kids at school who go to the same military summer camp as you do, Mitch," Ken spoke-up, glaring at his cousin with a look of anger. "They've told us in class that you are nothing more then a snitch and a blackmailer. And that you barely have any friends who trust you. It's your own fault for alienating yourself."

"So that gives you the right to hide all this from me?" Mitch said, waving a hand at the two time vehicles.

"Damn straight!" Shelly shot at him coldly. "You're not trustworthy enough to be let in on anything. Besides, our parents signed a none-disclosure agreement with the T.W.C that explicitly forbid us from discussing anything about it to outsiders. And that meant you."

Mitch scowled and said, "But I..."

"But nothing, Mitch!" Shelly snapped. "You want to put our family in danger just so you can feel good about showing us a thing or two? That me and Ken will get in trouble while you sit back and enjoy the fireworks? That's pathetic!"

Gritting his teeth, Mitch turned and started to walk away and said sharply back at Shelly. "I don't wanna' hear anymore of this. I'm out of here!"

He turned to leave but Shelly rushed at him and tackled him to the ground. She pinned his arms as he tried to struggle to get away.

"Get off me!" Mitch grunted, trying in vain to push Shelly off.

But Shelly wouldn't budge. "Forget it, Mitch," She said, holding down his arms. "You are not walking away from this. Not this time."

"Shelly, let him up," Sophie told her.

Shelly did what she was told and let Mitch get to his feet. He dusted himself off as he stood and scowled at his older cousin.

Before Sophie could say anything to break the tension in the air, a loud bellow sounded across the lake bed, followed by another bellow. It was Kron and Bruton who had sounded the call. The herd stirred awake and began to move out double time as quickly as they could.

"What's going on?" Ken said over the herd's roars. "Why is the herd moving out?"

"I don't know," Sophie said, walking over to the time rover and getting in the drivers seat. "But we better follow them before we fall behind. Let's mount-up, you two."

Ken climbed into the buggy and started the battery engine. Sophie did the same with the rover, the engine humming to life. Shelly got into the buggy beside her brother. But when Mitch made no move to get into the rover with Sophie, Shelly snapped, "Get in the rover, Mitch!"

Now there was an edge in Mitch's voice. "Look. Just go on without me."

Shelly faced him. "Are you nuts? Get in the rover!"

"Just forget it."

"Don't be a jerk, Mitch. You've been a jerk enough already. Get in the rover, now!"

She and Ken were surprised to hear a tremor in their cousin's voice. "You guys go on. Who needs you you? You'll still be mad at me because of the camera-phone and the pictures, and I know it!"

"Got that right!" Shelly growled. "And don't expect that you'll be getting it back either." she stuffed the phone into her pocket.

Mitch, furious, turned and stomped away in the direction of the departing herd shouting, "Fine! If that's how it's gonna' be, then I'm out of here!"

"Mitch, wait!" Sophie called after him. But the eleven year old kept on speed-walking, his figure growing smaller as he got closer to the herd of departing dinosaurs.

Letting out an exasperated groan, Sophie drove the time rover down into the lake bed towards Aladar and his group. Shelly and Ken followed right behind her.

Back with the others, Eema, Baylene, and Url just woke up and saw the back of the herd march out of the lake. Aladar ran up to them shouting, "Let's go, let's go. Carnotaurs!"

Yar shook his head in confusion and questioned, "Carno… what?"

"Carnotaur! A mouthful of teeth with a bad attitude! Let's go!" Eema exclaimed, getting up to her feet rapidly and beginning to move.

"Come guys, get on, get on," Aladar said frantically as the lemurs got on his back, "We're gonna get left behind."

Shelly asked her brother, "What are Carnotaurs?"

Ken explained, "They're predators, Shelly. Extremely vicious, dangerous, and feared by all dinosaurs. But I don't understand why they should be worrying like that. The Carnotaurus was a small predator. Only about 10-13 feet tall and 26 feet long. Aladar can take them on with no problem. Right, Sophie?"

Sophie didn't seem so sure. "If Eema is worried about the Carnotaurs, then we have to be as well, guys. I just hope Mitch can keep up with the herd. If he falls behind..."

Shelly scoffed and waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, he'll be fine. He'll came and find us when he's thirsty enough. I'm sure he'll be fine on his own."

"But aren't you worried that he's with the herd alone?" Sophie enquired again as Aladar stopped and waited for all of them to catch up with him. The young breathed heavily as he looked at his companions and then back at the herd. He saw the herd disappear behind a hill, with Kron and Neera walking off. Shelly saw Mitch pause near the hill and looked back at her and the others. But then he turned and followed after the herd.

"Oh, yeah, Sophie," Shelly sneered under her breath, both her eyes narrowed. "He'll be just fine."

* * *

:

 _ **(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do.**_

 _ **Sophie Luna Wolfheart(C) belongs to saphiradragonhert**_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Cave conversations

:

Night had fallen upon the landscape that evening. The pitch-black clouds above threatened rain and thunder.

Below, still travelling to catch up with the herd, was Aladar and his group.

Sophie was driving behind Baylene and Url, with Shelly and Ken following close to her. It had been five minutes or six minutes ago that the small group had left the lake behind and had tried to catch up with Kron and the herd.

Unfortunately, that wasn't what was happening anytime soon. The tracks of the herd had disappeared and only the faint scent of them kept the group moving forward. And the walk for the dinosaurs was still gruelling. The time buggy had charged-up it's internal batteries back at the lake, so there was no worries about travelling at night. Shelly and Ken offered to scout ahead to find the herd, but Sophie told them that it was best that they stay together. No point in getting lost out here in the prehistoric world.

As thunder rumbled in the sky above their heads, Baylene took that moment to say sarcastically, "Oh joy. Blisters."

"I've got blisters on my blisters." Eema groaned next.

"You don't want to know where I've got blisters," Yar said and sat up straight from where he was.

Everyone was caught off guard when a bellow sounded near. The small group stopped abruptly and looked around the area. The sound was not a bellow, but more of a low groan. It definitely came from something living. However, this groan sounded like a call for help.

Eema asked, "What was that?"

"It came from up ahead." Said Baylene. She lifted her head up to get a good look around the area.

"Okay, what's the worst thing it could be?" Asked Zini.

"A Carnotaur?" Suri guessed, cowering behind her uncle.

"Okay what's the second worst thing it could be?" Zini asked again.

"Two Carnotaurs!" The elderly Brachiosaurus cried and started retreating the other way.

"That's it! I'm gone!" Eema seconded and turned to leave.

"Great," Groaned Ken loudly. "What else can happen tonight?"

"Everybody! We don't know for sure," Aladar said and walked on. "It could be the herd. Let's go check it out."

"Oh my goodness," Baylene whimpered while crouching down.

Reluctantly, everyone followed. Slowly, they inched towards the end of the pass. Both dinosaurs and humans grouped together in case this was a predator. Sophie drove next to Aladar, the headlights of the rover turned off. Aladar slowly peaked from behind the hill and noticed something on the path. But to his relief it wasn't a Carnotaur. It was actually Bruton, struggling to continue walking. Sophie let out a small gasp when she noticed that there were a few gashes on the dinosaur's rear leg, neck, and side of his body.

"I can't believe it," Sophie said as she drove the buggy up the hill next to Bruton.

"Oh it's Bruton." Eema said upon noticing the wounded dinosaur.

"Appears we're not the only ones left behind" Baylene commented, nodding toward the lieutenant.

"It looks like he got hurt pretty bad," Said Shelly.

After Bruton groaned again and almost collapsed, Aladar walked on over to him. He stood next to the weakened dinosaur, who was apparently trying to ignore the whole group.

"What happened?" Aladar wondered.

"Carnotaurs!" Eema figured with a short gasp, and walked on. "Oh, We should keep moving."

"We can't just leave him here." Plio said, expressing concern over Bruton.

"Plio's right, Eema," Said Sophie. "We can't leave him here like this."

"We can if we move fast enough!" Eema said contemptuously and kept walking.

But Aladar thought it was best to give Bruton another chance. "Hey, you don't look so good," Aladar said to him. "Here, let me help you."

Bruton breathed sharply. "Save your pity. I just need some rest. Now get away from me!"

Aladar scoffed at Bruton's attitude. "Suit yourself," He said dryly.

Ken said under his breath. "We were only trying to help you, you big jerk."

"Ken!" Sophie scolded, giving the ten year old a glare.

"Well that's what he's acting like," He complained.

Streaks of light flashed above and a crash of thunder followed. Everyone winced at the sight and even took a step back in shock. A storm was coming.

"Looks like rain," Said Shelly, looking up.

Aladar was looking up at the sky as well when a thump was heard right in front of him. He looked down and noticed Url had placed a chewed stalagmite at his feet. The young Ankylosaur panted for a few seconds then gave the rock a nudge and a snort. Aladar watched him walk away to the east. When he did, he noticed Url walking towards a wide cave entrance. The cave was lighted for a few seconds by another streak of lightning.

"If you change your mind, we'll be in those caves." Aladar said to Bruton as he and the others went to the caves.

The cave was pretty huge though when they all got inside. There was more than enough space to fit everyone. Baylene had to bend a bit just so that she wouldn't hit the stone ceiling.

upon entering the cave, Aladar said, "It's dark, but at least it's dry."

"I like dry, it's the dark part I'm having trouble with." Eema remarked before accidentally stepping on Url's back spikes, "OUCH! Oh, Sorry Url. Sturdy little thing ain't he?"

"I'll say," Said Ken as he got out of the time buggy.

While Aladar and Sophie chuckled, Baylene noticed something outside the cave. "Ahem, we appear to have a visitor." She said.

Outside the cave, in the heavy rain, Bruton struggled to get inside the cave. His wounds were slowing him down painfully. He breathed heavily and tried with all his strength to get into the cave, but he collapsed onto the ground with a pained groan. Aladar felt bad for the lieutenant and went outside to help him.

Sophie meanwhile had parked the time rover next to a wall and Shelly did the same with the buggy.

Slowly, the two dinosaur walked inside the cave, away from the downpour outside. The water dripped from their scaly skins and the faint light made it look like they were shining. With a grunt, Bruton limped away from the group that was now huddled closely together on the left side of the cave and made his way for a ledge at the right.

"You can lie down with us," Aladar offered. "It's warmer."

But Bruton snorted and walked away from Aladar, declining his offer. He limbered up to the ledge and collapsed onto it with a groan.

Baylene said to Aladar, "May I remind you that he's one of them."

"Well, looks like he's one of us now," Replied Aladar.

Sophie took that moment to say to Shelly, "He's does a point, Shelly. Mitch may have been a little obnoxious and everything, but he's still your cousin and— "

"— he's no cousin of ours if he tried to put my family in danger." Shelly interjected angrily. "How can I... I mean how can we trust him after what he tried to do?"

"I'm sure he wouldn't have gone through with it, Shelly." Sophie continued obstinately. "Deep down I think he's hurting inside. You and Ken have always shunted him to one side and made him feel alienated."

Shelly snorted. "Oh, please, Sophie. Do you really believe that? Our parents have invited Mitch over to our house all the time during the summer, and we never even saw him look alienated."

"Did you ever talk to him or hang out?"

Shelly made a face. "Of course not! Me and Ken had our own thing. Mitch was just the cousin visiting. We... really never did hang out with him. I mean with the T.W.C and everything to talk about, there was no reason to, you know?"

Sophie nodded. "I understand, Shelly. But was the T.W.C and time-travelling worth ignoring a member of your family?"

Shelly shook her head. "No, of course not. Me and Ken just never really paid attention to him. I guess he kinda felt a little neglected."

Sophie sighed. "If that's so, Shelly, then maybe that's the reason why he tattles and blackmails you and Ken all the time. He just tries to get your attention."

Shelly thought about that just as Eema laid down and sighed, "Who booked this trip anyway?"

"Ah, you'll be at the nesting grounds soon enough." Aladar said as he lied down as well.

"Well, when I get there, I'm gonna give Kron a piece of my mind," Said Eema.

"You tell 'em, Eema." Aladar said with a chuckle.

Ken and Shelly found a spot to sleep on their mats, but Sophie decided to stay awake for a little while.

As everyone tucked themselves in for the night, Aladar noticed the lemurs laughing at Url, who lay on his back and yawned before falling asleep.

"If I could sleep that deep, I'd be in paradise." Yar stated.

"If you could sleep that deep, honey, you'd be dead." Eema said, earning laughter from all of her friends, including the three humans.

Later, while everyone slept, Sophie had taken Mitch's camera-phone from Shelly. When she turned it on and scrolled through the gallery, she saw that Mitch had taken tones of photos of the dinosaurs and the time vehicles. She frowned slightly and was about to tap on the delete icon to erase all of the photos, when she stopped and turned off the phone. She thought it would be best if Mitch erased the photos himself, if he chose to. She, like Aladar with Bruton, wanted to give the eleven year old another chance to try and redeem himself. She only hoped that somewhere out there Mitch was all right with herd in the pouring rain.

(*)

Mitch was not having a nice time. He was riding on the back of one of the dinosaurs in the herd, a Pachyrhinosaur, and was completely drenched in the rain. When he had started out after the herd to get away from his cousins, he had not been prepared for what was going to happen next. For the first few minutes with the herd, Mitch had to walk, trudging along behind the dinosaurs. None of the herd knew he was there with them. A few members who did see him occasionally gave him some curious sniffs, but he shooed them away from him and told them to leave him alone. He was, however, able to hitch a ride on the back of a Pachyrhinosaur when his feet got tired from walking. And the dinosaur didn't even seem to mind or didn't seem to notice.

But the pouring rain didn't make the ride any easier to endure. The cold air was another problem as well. Mitch was shivering all over. His hair was plastered to his forehead and over his eyes and his clothes felt heavy.

When he was hungry, he had eaten his last energy bar. It helped a little, but wasn't enough to fill his belly all that much.

"I swear when I get home..." Mitch muttered to himself. "Shelly and Ken are going to pay for this. I mean they got me into this damned mess. If they had just told me about their time travelling secret, I wouldn't have snuck onto the time rover and ended up here. And now they have my camera-phone and are doing who knows what with it."

in disgust, Mitch squeezed out his shirt and shifted himself on the Pachyrhinosaur's back. Sleep was not possible, even if it was nighttime. The rain and cold pretty much kept him awake.

"I just hope I can get to this nesting ground soon," Mitch said to himself with a shiver. "I don't know how long I can last out here."

* * *

:

 _ **(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do.**_

 _ **Sophie Luna Wolfheart(C) belongs to saphiradragonhert**_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: A noble sacrifice

:

It was a bit of a surprise waking up call when Sophie Luna Wolfheart suddenly opened her eyes, feeling the ground rumbling right under her sleeping form. There were several stones lying on the ground beside her, and what was really chilling was… they started to ripple. Whatever was making those sounds was getting closer. Sophie sat up slightly and looked up, gasping quietly as she saw two very big figures outside the cave in the rain.

Beyond the falling rain and the freshly made waterfall were two menacing horned carnivores. They sported a red and gray hide that had multiple small horns jutting out from it. Atop their box-shaped snout and dagger-like teeth were two very distinct horns.

Sophie knew what these were. Carnotaurs. There were only two of them, but Sophie knew that two were just as bad as one. And what was worse was that they were not medium-sized predators. They were as big as Tyrannosaurs.

"Oh no," She said quietly.

"Shh..." Sophie heard someone say nearby. "Carnotaurs…."

It was Bruton.

"What do we do?" She heard Aladar ask, who had also noticed the two carnivores.

"Wake the others." Answered Bruton.

Sophie got to her feet and started to wake Shelly and Ken hurriedly, keeping an eye on the two Carnotaurs who were still outside the cave.

The predators were getting closer and closer to the cave entrance. Inside the cave, everyone was awoken and terrified of the predators outside. It didn't take very long to get everyone moving. Soon, everyone was creeping through the cave to get to the back tunnels. All of them climbed the rocks leading to the back as quickly and quietly as they could. Sophie had taken behind Bruton in the rover, but kept the headlights off as she drove to the right. Shelly and Ken did the same with the buggy as they followed her, slowing down just enough so that the others could keep up.

All of a sudden there was loud yelp from Url, which was quickly shushed. Sophie stopped the rover as the sound reverberated through the cave. Shelly and Ken quickly looked behind them, their eyes wide.

A few seconds passed and the Carnotaurs continued sniffing around the entrance, but they didn't come in.

The group kept moving.

The good news was the entrance was large enough for Baylene to squeeze through. Bad news was that because since Baylene was so tall, she accidentally hit the ceiling with her back and a small rock fell, hitting another rock along the way and flying right past Eema and Aladar. Aladar gasped and ran after it to try and catch it. Unfortunately, he wasn't quick enough and the rock made it outside the cave in the rain. One of the Carnotaurs caught sight of the rock and bent down. Sophie saw the dinosaur sniff at the object and showed all of its teeth. The beast let out a low growl before raising it's body and peeking its great horned head in through the waterfall. Plio whimpered with fear as Yar silently shushed her.

Aladar remained quiet and made no sudden movements, hoping that the darkness would conceal him. That hope went askew when a flash of lightning struck, illuminating the cave for a brief second and giving away Aladar's position.

The Carnotaur roared and charged for the young Iguanodon. Aladar quickly got up and ran to the others.

"Go, go! Hurry!" He yelled at his friends.

Sophie shouted to her friends, "Drive! Go, now!"

Shelly didn't need to be told twice because she was already gunning it, driving the buggy far ahead into the large tunnel.

She turned back and saw Aladar pushing Eema up the slop of rocks.

"Move it, Eema!" Aladar yelled, pushing the elderly Styracosaur.

But Eema had only made up by a foot before Aladar was harshly dragged away by his tail. The Iguanodon cried out as the Carnotaur pulled him away along his stomach.

"Aladar!" Plio screamed as Eema made it up the slope and ran.

Suri could not stop screaming and Sophie watched helplessly as Plio's adopted son was about to be eaten alive.

The Carnotaurs then started to fight over who would have the first bite as Aladar lay pinned on the ground by a clawed foot.

Before anymore could happen, Bruton appeared, knocking the Carnotaur away from Aladar with a loud bellow.

"I'll hold them off! You help the others!" Bruton yelled at him.

Aladar got up and took off towards the group, Sophie driving after him, until he stopped to turn around and stare. Sophie continued to drive, until she reached the others. Shelly ran up to her.

"Is Aladar alright?" She said, fear showing on her face.

"He's fine, Shelly," Sophie said, turning back to see Aladar running up to his friends. But then they all heard Bruton's bellows from the fight, and Aladar knew that the lieutenant was in trouble.

Bruton, meanwhile, was fighting off the two Carnotaurs alone. He roared at the predators as he stood his ground, ready to fight. One of the Carnotaurs charged right at him, but was quickly knocked away by a blow from Bruton's tail. The predator crashed into a rock that was holding a big ceiling of rocks. Bruton looked up and saw the rocks falling from the ceiling. He looked back at the two Carnotaurs and charged with a roar. He slammed into them both and they all smashed into the rock pillar, knocking it down. A large avalanche of rocks began raining down on the dinosaurs.

Aladar ran out and tried to help Bruton, calling for him as rocks hit him. Sophie, who was at Aladar's side, let a scream as she saw Bruton getting pelted by the rocks.

She wanted to go out and help, but doing so would only result in her getting crushed by the falling rocks.

"Bruton!" Sophie screamed, standing back as rocks fell near her. "Get out of there!"

The wounded lieutenant stumbled forward and tried to get to Aladar. Using what remaining strength he had, Bruton made a push for safety. But it wasn't enough. A boulder the size of a small car struck the back of his head, crushing his cervix. Bruton fell, neck broken and buried under a mountain of debris.

"Bruton! No!" Aladar cried.

"Aladar! Get back!" Screamed Sophie. She dashed away as more sizable rocks rained down around them.

As soon as the rocks had stopped falling, Sophie and Aladar ran over to a mountain full of boulders. Aladar coughed slightly as the dust settled in the air.

"Bruton!" Aladar exclaimed as he ran over to the piles of rocks.

Aladar dug into the pile of rocks as fast as he could. After digging, he finally found Bruton, but it was too late. Buried under a pile of rocks, dead, was Bruton. Most of his body was covered. The only uncovered portion was his head.

Sophie came up to Aladar, saw Bruton, and turned away. Her eyes began to tear up, but she quickly rubbed them away. She hadn't gotten to know Bruton all that well in the herd, but she still felt bad for what had just happened.

"You did what you could," Plio said sadly when she had approached Aladar and had seen Bruton's lifeless form.

Aladar looked at the dead body again and breathed heavily, before hearing a roar in the rock pile. Aladar looked up, anger apparent on his face.

Then there was a crashing sound on the other side of the rock pile. Sophie guessed it was the other Carnotaur because the other one was buried in the rock pile as well. It too was dead.

(*)

The other Carnotaur burst out from underneath the rubble, roaring in anger. The bull-like carnivore snorted and stumbled to the exit, knowing and sensing full-well that it's partner was dead. When it reached near the entrance of the cave, the beast let out a thunderous roar, it's bellow echoing throughout the cave and the tunnels.

(*)

The sun the next morning beat down on the herd as they traversed the scorching hot rocky pass. Pushed across the desert unmercifully again by Kron, the herd was now more exhausted than ever. The dinosaurs had been going at a slower pace than usual. So far, no predators were nearby, but neither was any food or water.

At the back of the herd were the twin Iguanodons that were always near Neera's side. But Neera was not there to be with them. Mitch was the only one with them at the moment. The eleven year old had gotten off the Pachyrhinosaur some time ago, tired of riding on the bumpy back a the dinosaur all night. His clothes were dried and longer were wet from the rain, but that didn't help him much because his socks were still wet and damp. He trudged behind the herd, not minding the same scaly 'behind' view that never changed since he had started walking. And with the herd moving slowly, Mitch was able to take a much-needed potty break.

As he finished peeing, he heard a desperate bleating cry coming from behind him. Turning around, Mitch saw that one of the twin Iguanodons had fallen in the middle of the trail, the lighter coloured one. It's sibling was trying to help it to it's feet, but Mitch could see that the baby dinosaur was too tired and exhausted to get to it's feet. The darker scaled sibling tried calling to the herd for help, but they all kept on moving.

Mitch walked over to the pair and the darker sibling turned to him, a desperate and pleading look on it's face.

But Mitch didn't know what to do. He was only eleven. The young Iguanodon was too big for him to push or lift to it's feet.

Just then a figure appeared behind Mitch. He turned around saw that it was Neera, the purple scaled Iguanodon that he had seen before in the herd once or twice.

The female Iguanodon stood before them and lowered her head until she was at their level. The three of them looked up at her.

"It's okay little ones," She reassured them with a smile. "We're going to make it."

Both twins, and human boy looked at her. Neera then circled around until she was behind them, lowered her head again and nudged the fallen twin up. The little Iguanodon got up with a small squeak and then let out another when she gently pushed him to get moving. The two dinosaurs looked back at her before walking back to the herd.

But Mitch stayed where he was. Deep down he felt a little ashamed. He felt as if he couldn't do anything right. Here was a dinosaur that helped the little guys out, and here he was being useless.

He felt a nudge on his back and he turned to see that it was Neera, pushing him along with her muzzle.

"You too, little guy," She said. "Your friends wouldn't be happy if they found out I had left you behind, now would they?"

Mitch shook his head and started walking. "No, I guess they wouldn't."

"Indeed," Neera replied and raised her head back up. "Come on, we should get back to the herd."

As he walked, Mitch noticed that Neera was not joining him. He turned to glance back and saw her crane her head back to look at the path behind her, hoping that the others, especially Aladar, were there. When she saw nothing but the footprints of the herd, Neera frowned, let out a doleful sigh, and looked down. She then continued walking on, passing by Mitch.

The eleven year old still could not understand why the herd had to leave others behind. But then he realized that he had left his cousins behind. Because he was angry and wanted things to go his way, Mitch had stomped off without a plan. And without proper food or water. Slowly, Mitch began to understand. But he still felt like he had been wronged somehow. As he continued to walk with the herd, Mitch wondered where his cousins and Sophie were right now.

* * *

:

 _ **(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do.**_

 _ **Sophie Luna Wolfheart(C) belongs to saphiradragonhert**_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: All it takes is a little push

:

Bruton's death was a horrible thing. To Sophie it meant a changing friend, who had been a tough and brutal lieutenant of the herd, had done something that made him a hero.

The small group continued walking down the cave-tunnel to who knows where. The ceiling was just the right height for Baylene so she didn't have to bend down. However, rock formations and darkness did not stop the group.

To Ken the cave was dark. No forms of light penetrated from the walls or from the ceiling above the group's heads. The tunnel had a series of stalagmites and stalactites everywhere, making it a little difficult to manoeuvre the time rover and time buggy. The headlights from the rover were damaged from it's earlier encounter with Bruton, so the buggy was the one to lead the way in front of the group. It's single headlight was turned on to illuminate the tunnels ahead. The dinosaurs didn't seem bothered by it at all. In fact, they didn't seem to want to ask about where the light came from.

Ken, for his part in helping design the vehicle at the T.W.C, knew that the idea to build the buggy came from an old Nintendo 64 game he played one time as a little kid.

As they continued to walk through the cave-tunnels, Zini and Suri passed the time by playing the game 'I Spy'.

"Ok, ok, let's do it again, let's do it again." Said Zini. "I spy, with my little eye…"

"A rock," Guessed Yar flatly.

"You got it again!" Zini cheered. "Oh, you're good."

"Well, I'll tell you what I spy," Eema said. "a dead end."

Everyone stopped upon seeing a dead end in the cave, the light from the buggy shinning upon the passage. The entire path was blocked with rocks and boulders. There was no way for them to get through that.

Aladar sighed, while Yar asked a good question, "What do we do now?"

"I guess we just go back," Said Aladar sullenly.

Sophie could sense that the Iguanodon was still dealing with serious discouragements after the loss of Bruton.

All the sudden, Zini started sniffing the air. "Hold on a moment."

"Zini, what is it?" Suri asked.

The lemur faced his niece. "Do you smell that?"

Suri sniffed the air as well and grinned. "Yeah!"

As Zini and Suri leaped off Baylene to check it out, Aladar sniffed the air, too. He approached the rock wall as Zini began to dig through the wall of rocks. After digging, the small rocks gave way and a small ray emitted from the hole. Everyone gasped upon seeing the form of light.

"Get a load of that!" Eema exclaimed.

"All right!" Shouted Ken. "A way out!"

"Good going, Zini!" Shelly went next, turning off the buggy's headlight.

"Good show!" Baylene complimented.

"Everybody, stand back! We're outta here!" Aladar said, running forward and managing to move a boulder forward a bit. But as he shoved the big boulder out of the way, the wall started shaking. Zini and Suri hopped off the wall to safety as pebbles began raining down on them.

"Aladar, look out!"Eema exclaimed.

"Get out of the way!" Shelly screamed, pointing to more rocks which were falling.

Quickly, Aladar turned around and moved away from the rocks, running back to the group, all of which were watching as more rocks piled up. Then the cave became dark again as the light disappeared.

Aladar looked down and shook his head before shouting, "NO!"

The Iguanodon charged at the wall and tried pushing a boulder aside. But that didn't work, as the large rock hadn't moved an inch. Aladar then looked back at the others, who in turn were looking down at the floor or staring at him. Furiously, he let out a deep bellow and started striking the rocks with his weight as hard as he could.

Ken and Shelly were both a bit frightened by this. Sophie kept her cool as she watched, not looking away from what Aladar was trying to do. She could understand why he was angry. The loss of Bruton, a friend, would cause anybody to go mad. That, and having the only ray of light out the cave disappear after having just been found.

Finally, Aladar stopped, panting tiredly as Plio moved toward him. "Aladar," She calmly told him. "We'll go back."

"Back to what? It's gone. We're not meant to survive." Aladar said, his tone cold and resentful, causing Sophie to frown a bit.

But Baylene, having had enough, stepped forward.

"Oh, yes we were. We're here, aren't we? And how dare you waste that good fortune, by simply giving up? Well, shame on you. Shame on you! Shame on you!" She scolded, the bridge of her snout brushing roughly against his muzzle.

Sophie was also frowning at Aladar as well, her hands on her hips.

"The worst of it is, you allowed an old fool like me to believe that I was needed. That I still had a purpose." Baylene continued. "And do you know what? You were right. Well, I'm going to go on believing it. I for one am not willing to die here!"

Baylene stood tall and started lifting her front feet up in the air, letting out a loud trumpet before landing her feet against the rocks, hitting them with all her might. Eema, determination on her face, moved forward and began to help, Url following after her and beginning to help as well.

Sophie got back into the time rover, adjusted the gears, and drove foreword to help. Shelly did the same in the buggy and went to Sophie's side, ramming into a boulder alongside her and pushing into it. The wheels of both the buggy and the rover squealed in the dark with the effort.

Ken and the lemurs stood back as the others did their best to push the rocks down.

Baylene let out a loud trumpet, before Aladar gave a loud bellow and began to help the others.

And finally, after one final push, the rocks all fell away, and dust gathered around the group in a large cloud, light flooding in the cave.

All of them slowly walked out into the light, away from the darkness of the cave that almost became their grave.

"Oh dear…" Baylene breathed as she slowly walked out.

When the dust cleared, they all moved out into the light, their eyes widening when they saw the scene before them.

It was a lush and beautiful valley, untouched by the fireball's destruction.

The landscape was of an transparent gem green. The skies were a shade of sky-blue and cotton-like clouds floated above the colorful land. Mountains surrounded the valley like a barrier against the wastelands outside. In the middle of the area was a large lake, with waters like a blueish mirror. Off to the right side, pouring out of a mountain, was a huge waterfall, like the ones seen in South America. It was huge, enough to support a whole herd of dinosaurs. There was even a forest that covered the mountains, giving the walls a darker shade of green. It was magnificently beautiful and breathtaking.

"The Nesting Grounds…" Eema uttered. "It's... it's untouched."

Everyone looked around with amazement. They had finally reached the valley.

"We made it." Shelly exclaimed.

Birds flew across the valley in flocks. There was plenty of green food for the dinosaurs and the lake was beautiful.

"Our new home…" Plio said with a smile and hugged her daughter.

"And it comes with a pool!" Zini exclaimed with excitement.

Zini and Suri began leaping together toward the lake, with Url following close behind. Baylene followed them, laughing as she went straight

Shelly stayed with Aladar and Eema, who hung back near the entrance.

Ken, on the other hand, rushed down to the lake with Sophie, who was laughing along with Baylene. The elderly dinosaur jumped and landed in the fresh, clear water, creating a big wave, one that was huge compared to Zini, who was surfing on a log. Suri climbed the vines of a nearby tree.

"Not bad," Aladar stated. "But I don't get it…Where's the herd?"

"Not to mention Neera." Plio added. Yar quietly laughed and so did Eema. Shelly couldn't help but giggle a little.

"They'll get here…" Eema said then walked over to the left of the grassy area. "Soon enough."

Eema walked towards an edge of the valley and there was a devastated note to her voice. "Oh, no."

"Eema?" Aladar called, walking after her. Shelly and the lemurs followed after him.

"What's wrong?" Shelly asked she moved over to where Eema was.

"I spoke too soon." Eema said.

"What is it?" Asked Aladar.

They were on a small hill that sloped on the other side toward one part of the mountain barrier.

"That is the way we used to get in." Eema said, nodding to the large pile of boulders that was blocking what used to be an entrance into the valley.

Aladar examined the wall, until he realized that the chances of the herd getting over that were very slim and weak. Shelly also knew that if Kron forced the herd to go over that, then Mitch was also in danger.

"They'll never make it over that!" Aladar exclaimed before running back to the cave entrance.

"Aladar wait, wait!" Eema protested. "Kron will eat you alive."

"Let him try." Was Aladar's only response before disappearing into the cave.

Shelly took one last look at the wall before running after Aladar. She couldn't inform Sophie about what she was about to do, but she hoped that her brother would understand just as well. The twelve year old tomboy sprinted towards the cave entrance, quickly traversed the various boulders scattered about, and called out to Aladar.

"Aladar!" She yelled. "Wait!"

The Iguanodon had only made it into the mouth of the tunnel they were in earlier. He turned around to see Shelly standing beside him, panting a bit from her short jug to catch up to him.

"I'm coming with you." Shelly told him as she caught her breath. "Mitch, my cousin, he's still with the herd. I have to make sure that he's safe."

Aladar shook his head. "Shelly, it's too dangerous. You have to stay here with the others. I'll bring Mitch back when I find him. I promise."

Shelly then ran to the front of him and outstretched her arms, blocking Aladar's way.

"He's my cousin, Aladar," She told him defiantly, standing her ground. "I will not leave him behind. So you just try and stop me."

Aladar could see that there was no getting around this. He could tell that this two-legged little mammal was going to be a handful. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Aladar knelt down just enough so that Shelly could get on.

"Get on," Aladar told her, half smiling. "We can't waste anymore time arguing over this."

Smiling back, Shelly nimbly climbed upon the base of Aladar's neck. Once she was on, Aladar gallop away into the cave and out of sight.

Eema and the lemurs watched them go.

Sighing, Eema said, " _I hope Kron's_ in a _listening mood_."

(*)

Unfortunately, the herd was on the other side of the wall at that very moment. Kron stood horrified at the giant rock wall that blocked their pathway to the nesting grounds. The rest of the herd were frightened and unsure what to do. Neera had been in the back of the herd, keeping the young ones together. Once she had done her duty, she pushed her way through the herd, the twins and Mitch following close behind on her right. Mitch was glad that the herd had finally stopped, but was not glad that there was a rock wall blocking their path.

When they made it to the front, Neera turned to them.

"Stay here." She told them. The three of them obeyed and watched Neera go and talk to her brother.

Mitch saw that Kron was still standing where he was, even when Neera was right at his side. Even with the herd bellowing all around him, Mitch could hear Neera tell her brother that they would find a way around it. But Kron said, "In the morning… we'll climb it."

Mitch had his doubts as he looked grimly up at the rock wall. Sure he may have been to military summer camp and done all of those obstacle courses, but this was totally not what he was use to. He could climb that, sure, no problem. But the rest of the herd...

They probably wouldn't make it all the the way. In fact, a few of them could slip and fall. And with young ones with them...

By the time the sun had began to set, the herd had settled down where they were standing to sleep. Neera had taken the two orphans aside to find a peaceful spot to rest. Mitch went with them, not wanting to sleep anywhere near the other dinosaurs. The twins were already fast asleep beside Neera. Mitch found a spot close to them and rested his head on Neera's tail. He was almost instantly asleep.

* * *

:

 _ **(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do.**_

 _ **Sophie Luna Wolfheart(C) belongs to saphiradragonhert**_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Stand Together

:

The following morning in the canyon did not bring a lot of hope to the herd at all.

"We have to keep trying! Our survival, our future, is over these rocks. Now let's go home!" Kron exclaimed as he stood atop the rocks, staring down at the herd before him.

From where he was standing, Mitch could see that none of the dinosaurs moved foreword. The herd, tired from the long walk and doubtful about climbing the wall, didn't move.

To Kron' disbelief, none of the herd members followed him up the wall.

He looked around for whom to use an example on how to get past the wall. His eyes fell upon the two orphans underneath Neera.

"You'll make it, won't you boys?" Kron said, lowering his head and then giving them a nudge to move forward.

Neera immediately objected to this, concerned over the little ones' safety. "No!" She objected.

"Watch them! They're tough. If they can do it, then so can you!" Kron boomed to the herd, continuing to nudge the twins forward again with more force.

Neera and Mitch looked back, becoming surprised when the herd actually began to climb, earning a satisfied smile from Kron. Mitch had to admit that this dinosaur got what he wanted through force all right.

But just as it seemed the herd was going to try climbing the wall, everyone heard a loud voice call out. "KRON!"

Neera turned back around and gasped in surprise. It was Aladar, with Shelly riding upon his back. Mitch couldn't believe what he was seeing either. His older cousin was riding a dinosaur, just like he had. Only she made it look cool.

"Kron, get the herd out of here! A Carnotaur is coming!" Aladar exclaimed, kneeling down a bit so that Shelly could climb down off his back.

The herd started getting nervous upon hearing about the approaching predator. Even Mitch felt a little nervous as well. He looked back and fourth to Kron and his cousin, confused on who to follow.

But Kron was not going to let this happen. "Keep moving!" He ordered, turning to climb a rock. But Aladar shouted out again.

"Stop!" Aladar yelled, moving forward among the herd. "Me and Shelly have been to the valley! There's a safer way."

"He's telling the truth, Kron!" Shelly yelled in support. "There is a safer way. You don't have to climb that wall!"

The herd was scared of the Carnotaur, but was unsure of they should listen to Aladar, since Kron's way of reaching the valley seemed impossible.

"Go on, show them!" Kron ordered the two twins as he nudged them both again, earning squeals from them.

"Kron, listen to them!" Neera shouted at her brother.

"Listen, we have to go now!" Aladar exclaimed.

"Go where? Straight to the Carnotaurs?" Kron accused incredulously.

"If we hurry, we can get around them! You can't get over those rocks! There's a sheer drop on the other side!" Aladar argued back.

When Aladar saw Kron roughly nudge the two twins forward again, knocking them both over, he got mad.

Shelly let out a small gasp and screamed, "Stop it!"

"YOU'RE GONNA KILL THE HERD!" Yelled Aladar. "We know a way to the valley and everybody can make it! Now follow us!"

Shelly saw Kron growl and then storm down from the wall, pushing through his sister who was trying to stop him. The enraged leader leaped down and landed on the gravelled ground, causing the earth to shake a little.

"They're staying with me!" Kron yelled.

Aladar then flicked his tail at him and started to walk away. "Alright let's go!"

Shelly barely had time to get out of the way as Kron charged forward and tackled Aladar to the ground, biting the side of his face. Everyone made a large circle, watching the fight in shock. Aladar managed to kick Kron off of him and get to his feet. The herd backed away from the two fighting dinosaurs as Neera and Mitch approached the fight. Kron growled and charged at Aladar, only to be knocked away by Aladar's body when he had sidestepped away.

Kron then threw some sand and dirt into Aladar's eyes, blinding him. Aladar roared as he tried to blink the dirt out of his eyes, but Kron then slashed Aladar with his thumb spike, giving him a awful scratch on his chest. Kron then walloped Aladar with his tail, sending him flying into the rock wall. A few Microceratops scurried away as Aladar landed, bruised and stunned.

Shelly instinctively ran to Aladar's side, got in front of him, and spread her arms out protectively, facing Kron.

"NO!" Shelly screamed at enraged Kron. "I won't let you!"

Kron roared loudly, moving in to make the final blow. Shelly closed her eyes, bracing for the final attack.

But the attack never came.

Opening an eye, Shelly saw Neera at the last second had pushed her brother away, causing everyone to gasp in surprise.

Kron picked himself off the ground and stared at Neera. But Shelly could see that the female Iguanodon was not backing down like before. She was sick of her brother's illogical beliefs and the way he had been pushing the herd. Neera stared at Kron for another minute before moving to help Aladar up. Shelly moved aside but then went over to help Aladar as well. The tomboy's strength wasn't much, but she did assist in helping his head up. The three of them walked off, ascertained to leave the canyon. Mitch didn't follow them, but stayed where he was. He was still in shock about what had happened.

"Neera!" Kron shouted, his voice echoing through the canyon.

Mitch saw Neera ignore her brother, kept her head held high, and continued to walk with Aladar and Shelly. Eventually, the entire herd began to move after them.

Mitch remained where he was on the rock ledge as he saw the herd starting to move out.

Shelly, although not wanting to look back at Kron, heard the herd's footsteps and turned around. She saw the herd following them. Her fear and anger turned into relief and happiness. She was happy knowing the herd was following them to a much easier path to the Nesting Grounds. Neera stayed by Aladar's side as they walked, nuzzling him gently on the side of his face.

What Shelly didn't see was Mitch among the herd. She turned back to look but could only see the bodies of the dinosaurs as they walked. She then spotted him on the rock ledge, just standing there and not joining them. When they made eye contact, Shelly waved to him to follow. But then Mitch turned his head away from her, his eyes closed and arms crossed. Shelly couldn't believe this. She waved her hand again, but Mitch kept his eyes closed and his head turned. She was about to march right through the dinosaurs to get to him, when a loud roar echoed throughout the canyon.

The herd stopped dead in their tracks and looked around in confusion. The sound of distant and loud footsteps were coming closer and closer. At that moment, something appeared in the distance around the canyon. It was the Carnotaur.

Shelly couldn't believe it. Last night she and Aladar had only just given the dinosaur the slip, right when it was feasting on a fallen herd member.

The herd started getting nervous upon seeing the Carnotaur. The predator stared at them leeringly and had the desire of hunger in its eyes.

"They've led that monster right to us!" Kron accused, beginning to climb the rock wall. "This way!"

Shelly's eyes widened when she saw the herd actually begin to move back to Kron. She even saw Mitch beginning to follow him.

Aladar yelled to the herd. "No! Don't move! If we scatter, he'll pick us off!" He then turned to face the Carnotaur. "Stand together!"

But Kron was stubbornly refusing to listen again and continued climbing the wall. Mitch was climbing up after him, scrambling up the rocks.

The Carnotaur roared at the herd, but Aladar and stood his ground. It then scraped at the ground with it's hind-foot before breaking off into a charge, heading straight toward the herd. The herd began to panic as the predator proceeded towards them. They tried backing away, but there was nowhere to go, or hide. They were trapped in between the rocky wall and the approaching carnivore.

But Aladar, not giving up on the herd, stepped forth and started roaring at the approaching Carnotaur. The herd was confused at what he was doing. So was Shelly for that matter. The Carnotaur stopped running and roared back at Aladar.

Aladar was soon joined by Neera, and then the rest of the herd, everyone roaring up at the Carnotaur. Shelly had watch where she was standing because the herd of dinosaurs were all around her. But she could see that the Carnotaur was moving back, driven away by the roars of the herd. The combined bellows of the herd were driving it back and Shelly could see that it was becoming confused.

Once the herd got to the end, they started to swerve off around the corner. While they did, each member let out a last series of bellows at the Carnotaur before leaving from the vicinity. The Carnotaur moved off to the side, the last herd member continuing to roar at it as they passed by it safely.

Shelly kept near Neera and Aladar as they made sure that the Carnotaur didn't pass or follow after them.

But then Shelly notice the Carnotaur glance back at the end of the canyon. It then charged into the ravine.

Neera saw it run and knew that it was heading for Kron. She immediately turned and gave chase, bounding after it. Aladar saw this and groaned. He followed after her. Shelly ran after him, but only because she was concerned for Mitch's safety.

"Damn it, Mitch," She growled as she ran. "Why didn't you follow me?"

"Kron!" Cried Neera as she ran.

Kron turned around and saw the Carnotaur chasing after him. Mitch saw it as well and he quickened his climb, his eyes wide with fear. Kron quickly started moving faster up the mountain, in a desperate attempt to escape. As he kept going, with the Carnotaur close behind, he suddenly stopped upon coming across a deep ravine, his foot slipping a bit from the misstep. Mitch, panting from the climb up, saw Kron stop and saw that there was no where to go. He then understood that he had made a very grave mistake.

"No…no.." Kron whispered at the harsh understanding of his mistake.

The Carnotaur lunged forward to attack him, so Kron made one last ditch effort to save himself. He leaned down and pushed Mitch, right into the path of the charging Carnotaur. Mitch stumbled forward from the sudden push and landed on his hands and knees. Looking up, he saw the Carnotaur duck it's massive toward him. Mitch expected to feel it's teeth bite into him and devour him alive, but it didn't. Instead, the Carnotaur swung it's head and tossed Mitch aside, and he was sent flying through the air like a small doll. Mitch screamed as he felt searing pain and the surprising sensation of his own body moving through the air. It seemed to be happening very slowly, and he had plenty of time to watch the rocky ground rush up to strike him...

By then the carnivore was continuing it's attack, roaring at Kron's feeble attempt to distract it with such pathetic prey. Although cornered, Kron stood brave. Inside he wasn't glad about what he had just done, but he felt as it he had no other choice.

Before the Carnotaur could attack him, Kron hit it with his tail as hard as he could. The hit didn't seem to do anything to the larger predator except to make it stumble. As the two dinosaurs fought, Neera and Aladar continued up the wall. Shelly was trying to follow, but the dinosaurs had better footing then she did. When she had heard Mitch scream, her heart filled with a sudden rush of dread.

"No," She whispered, quickening her climb. "Please don't be dead, Mitch. Don't you dare be dead!"

By the time both Aladar and Neera had reached the top of the rocky ledge, the fight between the Carnotaur and Kron was over.

Shelly, when she had made to the ledge, saw Kron's pron form against a rock, not moving. Before the carnivore could finish the job, Neera attack it, shoving the Carnotaur's side with all her might. But the predator was very strong and knocked Neera away with ease with it's horned head. Before it could attack her, Aladar appeared and whacked the Carnotaur with his tail. But the predator countered him with it's own tail, knocking Aladar to the ground. But Shelly could see that Aladar was still strong and willing to fight back. He let out a roar and rammed into the Carnotaur and pushed him as hard as he could towards the edge of the ledge. The Carnotaur was getting pretty sick and tired of this and got ready to fight back. But before anything could happen, the ground underneath the dinosaur started to collapse under it's weight. Aladar turned away to run for safty but was then grabbed by a set of teeth when the Carnotaur bit him on his lower back. But the hold was not that good. The Carnotaur let go and fell down into the ravine, it's roar echoing throughout the canyon as it fell to it's death.

Aladar got himself back up and looked down the ravine. Down below, he saw the now dead Carnotaur as the smoke and dust cleared away. Shelly and Neera joined him, Neera making sure that Aladar was okay. Shelly looked down and then moved back a bit, uncomfortable with heights and the dead body of the Carnotaur.

The calm was broken by the sound of Neera's voice when she had moved off from the others.

"Kron…" She whispered, lowering head down to her brother's. She nudged Kron's head, but he wasn't responding, nor was he waking up. Kron was dead. Neera was devastated at what had happened to her only brother, even though he was hard and cruel throughout the journey. Aladar approached the saddened Neera. Although he didn't like Kron either, he still expressed sadness upon looking over his dead body. Aladar comforted Neera as Shelly looked around for Mitch.

She found him, half buried in a small pile of rocks to her left. She removed the rocks and checked to see if he was injured. Mitch groaned and opened his eyes.

"Shelly..." He groaned, wincing as he looked up at her. "What happened? Oh, my leg..."

Shelly removed a rock from his right leg and saw that it did not look good. A small trace of blood was on his pant-leg, mixed with the dirt. It didn't look that bad, probably just scrapped by the sharpness of the rocks. Shelly could only guess that Mitch's leg was bruised, not broken. The other leg was fine, so that meant that he could walk on it. But a splint was needed.

"It doesn't look too bad, Mitch," Shelly said, leaning over his leg. "But I need a better look at it."

"Don't!" Mitch pushed himself up and gave Shelly a shove.

"Mitch, I've got to see it. I'll need to make sure that no bones are broken. And if you do, then I'll have to use a splint."

Shelly was surprised to see tears behind Mitch's eyelashes. Her cousin lay down again.

Shelly carefully pushed up the leg of Mitch's khakis and tried not to register a small laugh. It wasn't as bad as she first thought. The ankle was darkened red and bruised, but there was hardly any blood. There were only traces of it along his leg where the rocks had scraped him. With a bruised and twisted ankle to deal with, they wouldn't be able move very fast.

"How bad is it?" Asked Mitch.

"Not that bad, but you won't be able to walk on it for a while." Shelly told him. "What happened?"

"Kron. He pushed me toward the dinosaur to save himself. Then it tossed me aside and I went flying into the rocks. Injured it on the landing."

"Can you stand up, Mitch? We have to leave and get back to the others at the Nesting Grounds."

"I think so," Mitch breathed. He pointed to Aladar and Neera. "Are those two gonna' carry us out of here?"

Shelly shook her head. "No, Mitch. I'm going to ask Aladar to carry you down to the ground, but we are walking the rest of the way."

Mitch pushed himself up again. "Are you crazy? With a busted leg like this? We gotta get a ride from those two."

"Not happening," Shelly told him sternly. "Neera and Aladar have enough to worry about right now with the loss of Kron and the herd waiting. They don't need to worry about us on their backs."

"So you want to walk back?" Mitch said, propping himself up as best he could. "But I won't be able to make it down the rocky slope."

"You won't," Shelly told him. "I'll have Aladar carry you down to the ground, but that's it. You and me are walking the rest of the way."

(*)

After Neera and Aladar were done mourning for the fallen ex-leader, Shelly had gone to them and had asked the both of them if one of them could carry Mitch down to the ground. Aladar volunteered and went over to Mitch, leaned down, and took the eleven year old by the scruff of his shirt. Mitch was a bit nervous by this and protested as he was being lifted in the air, but Shelly told him flatly that he was not getting a ride. He was being carried down.

Once they all had made to the gravelled ground, and Aladar had put Mitch down, Neera and him walked on ahead to catch up with the herd. Shelly supported Mitch by slinging his arm over her shoulder, though she had to lean a bit because Mitch was shorter then her. He could still stand on his good leg, however, it would be slow-going for the both of them.

The final stretch of the journey was spent in silence, for dinosaurs and humans alike. Once or twice, however, Mitch wanted water from Shelly's bottle. But Shelly only let him have a few measly swallows.

It was getting dark, the sun had now set behind the hills. The herd had finally made it to the cave and the halfway point to the Nesting Grounds. Neera and Aladar lagged a little behind the herd. They wanted to make sure that everyone made inside.

Shelly and Mitch took up the rear of the large crowd and it was some time before the two made inside the cave. Mitch hadn't been much help. He had complained that his ankle was hurting and that he was thirsty, and Shelly was at the end of her rope with him.

When the herd was halfway through the cave-tunnel, some of them still tired from the long walk, Aladar and Neera announced to them that they would rest for a while before pushing on.

Shelly was more then happy to rest. She stopped near two large rocks and Mitch once again sat down on a place that looked comfortable, leaving Shelly to pick a spot which was not.

The two hadn't spoken for a long while, so it was Mitch who broke the silence.

"You're really pissed off, aren't you?" Mitch asked.

"What are you talking about?" Shelly let out a breath.

"Just the way that you're walking. Half dragging me and stomping down so hard. Every time you take a step, my ankle feels like it breaking all over again."

Shelly frowned. "Just be lucky I'm helping you at all, Mitch," She massaged her shoulder and stretched herself. "You had a lot of nerve running off by yourself back at the lake. And for what? For a stupid camera-phone?"

"And for slapping me in the face!" Mitch shot back.

Shelly snorted derisively. "Serves you right for sneaking aboard the time rover in the first place. And for being a pain in the ass during all the times you were at our house."

Mitch turned away, his arms crossed. But Shelly wasn't fazed by his childish version of the silent treatment.

"If you're gonna be like that, then you are wasting your time." Shelly sneered. "I can just as easily leave you here, and then you'd be crying for help. And who'd be around to help you, huh? No one, that's what."

Mitch didn't say anything. Shelly was glaring at him. How was it that she and her brother got stuck with this little bag of air? She'd take any other cousin instead of this little jerk.

But deep down there weren't any other cousins. Mitch was it. Shelly knew that. For better or worse, Mitch was all she and her brother had. And Sophie's words about putting things aside reminded her of that.

"Look," Shelly said finally. "Are we going to go the rest of our lives quarrelling over dumb stuff like this?"

"Who says it's dumb?" Mitch shot at her, sneering. "I'd rather crawl the rest of the way to this Nesting Ground than listen to you make like Mr. Big."

"What makes you think I'm Mr. Big?" Shelly spat. "Tell me right now!"

Mitch, having no other choice, decided to let it all out.

"The way you and Ken both act towards me every time I came over to your house. You ignore me and don't even acknowledge me as family. It's bad enough that my mom and dad are having financial problems, but it's even worse when they send me off to military summer camp, just to ditch me."

Shelly could not believe what she was hearing. "I didn't know that your parents were having financial problems, Mitch."

"You didn't?"

Shelly shook her head. "No, of course not. Is this the reason you act like you do? Tattling and everything?"

Mitch nodded and turned away. "Back at the lake I was wrong to take those pictures, you were right about that."

"Yeah, didn't I tell you?"

"Yes, you told me. I was acting stupid." Mitch told her. "I just wanted things to be fair, that's all. I just wanted to be a part of something great. But you and Ken shut me out."

"Like we had a choice," Shelly said. "We couldn't trust you. You have a blabber mouth, Mitch. What if you told people about the T.W.C and my family's involvement in it, or worse? Do you know what would happen?"

Mitch shook his head, not understanding.

"Fine," Said Shelly. "I'll explain. FBI agents and government people would come and invade our house. Our parents would be questioned and we would be tailed to school everywhere we go by guys in black suits in cars. The T.W.C would be found out, our trust with it broken. If the government agents ever got their greedy hands on time travel technology, it wouldn't take long for them to travel to the age of the dinosaurs. They would probably go to the Nesting Grounds and take the dinosaurs away to be experimented on like lab rats under a test tube."

"Would it be so bad?" Mitch asked.

"Yes, it would," Shelly told him. "It's just not the dinosaurs world in ours, Mitch. It will be like we've become an enemy to anything new and wondrous. **Even the scientific community's gonna poke and prod at the dinosaurs until they start hating every human that they see, including you and me."**

 **"But that's not true." Mitch said, adjusting himself on the rock. "How would you know that would even happen?"**

 **"It would, Mitch." Shelly said. "Trust me it would. Your actions would bring about the fall of the dinosaurs. Maybe even forever. And our family along with it."**

 **Mitch let out a long breath, rubbed the back of his head, and looked up at his cousin. "I suppose you're right."**

 **They were quite for a moment.**

 **"I just..." Shelly stopped, wanting to remember what her mother and Sophie had talked to her about, then continued: "I just don't want us to end up like your dad and my mom."**

 **"I know," Mitch said at last. He took a breath and let it out. "Sometimes I can't help myself. I know it's bad to tattle and to blackmail, but how else am I suppose to get attention?"**

 **A trace of a smile stretched the corners of Shelly's mouth. "If you let me, Ken and I can show you how without being obnoxious."**

 **"Really?"**

 **Shelly grinned. "Sure thing, cus'," She told her cousin. "Now come on. Let's get some sleep."**

* * *

 **:**

 ** _ **Geez and crone, that was long! I need to take a small break before the final chapter, everyone.**_**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: A time that will be remembered

:

Shelly and Mitch continued their trek through the cave-tunnel, slowly, and hardly able to catch up with the herd. Aladar and Neera both wanted to help carry them, but Shelly kept on saying no. She made it adamant that she wanted to walk with her cousin the rest of the way to the nesting grounds.

Even though Shelly had put aside her differences with Mitch, she was unclear if Ken was going to be any different. Shelly knew her little brother. He was the type of kid to hold a grudge sometimes, but he was the forgiving type as well.

What mattered right now was what was going to happen when the trip was over and done. Would Mitch tell somebody about the T.W.C or something, going back on his word? Shelly knew that her cousin, like her brother, could hold a grudge. But he was starting to turn his behaviour around. All Shelly and her brother had to do was be more open with him.

A few hours later the herd had finally made to the entrance to the nesting grounds, the light outside indicating that it was daybreak. The herd, joyful and happy about finally making to their home, rushed out of the cave-tunnel and into the nesting grounds. Neera and Aladar hung back a bit so that all the herd members made it out of the cave. The youngsters and young bloods of the herd stuck together in groups while the adults scattered about, looking for places in the green valley do build their nests.

Shelly and Mitch were the last ones to make it out of the cave. Aladar and Neera hung back with them just as far as the lake until they went off to find their other friends.

Ken and Sophie were down by the lake, sunning themselves on the shore. The time buggy and time rover were parked a little ways beside them. When they both approached, Shelly called out to them.

"Hey, guys, we're back."

Ken and Sophie turned around and got to their feet, dusting themselves off from the sand on their clothes.

But Sophie, for some reason, was not smiling. She marched up right to Shelly, her hands on her hips.

"Oh, boy," Said Shelly.

"Have you any idea how worried we've been?" Said Sophie in a deadly whisper. "You went off without telling me where you were going."

Ken came up and also glared. Not at his sister, but at Mitch. He crossed his arms and frowned at his cousin.

"And you running off like that back at the lake," Said Ken. "what were you thinking, huh?"

Mitch didn't say anything. He turned his head away, not meeting Ken or Sophie's gaze. Shelly decided to speak up.

"Look," Shelly explained. "I went after Mitch because I was worried about him, okay? I went with Aladar to find the herd and to bring him back. After all, Sophie, he is my cousin and he's family. You taught me that ever since he came on this journey."

Sophie's expression softened as she nodded. Ken still remained unconvinced.

"I very much doubt that your heroics changed his mind about telling somebody about the T.W.C, Shelly." He said. "What's going to stop him from do it?"

Shelly turned to him. "His word, Ken. That's what matters."

Ken snorted derisively. "Yeah right, sis, his word is nothing unless he erases the pictures in his camera-phone. But he won't do that."

"Yes he will," Shelly said. "Sophie, do you still have it?"

"Right here," Sophie said as she dug into her pocket, took out the camera-phone, and gave it to Shelly.

Shelly took it and then thrust it into Mitch's hands. Mitch looked at his camera-phone and then back at Shelly and Sophie in surprise.

"This is your chance, Mitch," Shelly said to him. "This is your chance to do something right."

"What do you mean?" Mitch said uncertainly.

"This is your chance to show us that you've changed for the better." Shelly said. "If you erase the pictures on your camera-phone, then you've earned our respect back and our loyalty, Mitch. But if you don't, then you are no family of ours, and that you would rather see my brother and me get in trouble. But the choice is yours."

Mitch looked at Sophie, then Shelly, and even Ken. He then looked down at his camera-phone and sighed, frowning.

After a minute of stalling, Ken, having had enough and convinced that his cousin wasn't going to change, stormed away to the time vehicles.

"Well, I guess that proves it!" Ken called back to the others in a rant. "He doesn't care about our family or us. I don't know why we or our family should have anything to do with that little lowlife!"

They watched as Ken got into the time buggy, closed the dome cover, and turn away.

Mitch didn't know what to say. He felt hurt just like his ankle. Only he didn't know which one felt the worse.

Sophie wanted to go after Ken, to make him understand, but Shelly held her back.

"He's my little brother, Sophie," Shelly said, taking her hand off her shoulder. "Let me talk to him. Besides, you have to place the tracking homing device on Aladar. Once you're done with that, and I've had my talk with Ken, we can all go back to the Dino Institute."

"Okay, Shelly," Sophie said with a small smile as she nodded. "I just hope you can talk some sense into him." She turned to Mitch. "Do you want to come with me?"

Mitch nodded and gave her a weak smile. "Sure."

(*)

As Sophie and Mitch went off to find Aladar, Shelly busied herself by trying to get Ken to make up with their cousin. Ken had opened the dome to listen but did not feel like talking about Mitch. Shelly knew she had to try harder.

"Shelly, he doesn't care about what happens to our family," Ken said to her, adjusting himself on the seat. "What if he tells somebody or shows somebody the pictures in his camera-phone, huh? What's going to happen then?"

"I don't really know," Said Shelly with a short gesture. "All I kno..."

"You don't get it, do you?" Ken snapped, cutting her off. "Well, sis, I'll tell you what will happen. The government will find out, that's what. I can't just forgive and trust the guy again after everything he was about to do."

Shelly rolled her eyes. "Mitch isn't my favourite person in the world either, Ken. But at least he's turning himself around. I told him that me and you could help him gain more friends. Proper friends."

Ken sighed and rubbed his eyes. It took a long moment for him to finally say something.

"Fine," Ken said. "You're right. I know you're right."

Shelly smiled and gave her brother hug. "Thanks, little brother."

Ken shrugged her off of him. "Don't get all mushy, sis," He said. "I'll give him a chance to redeem himself, but if he so much as tries to betray our family, I'll brain him."

Shelly chuckled. "You tell him, Ken."

(*)

After the tracking homing device was placed on Aladar, Sophie and Mitch returned to the time rover and buggy. Shelly and Ken were waiting for them.

"Is it done, Sophie?" Ken said.

Sophie gave him the thumbs up sign as she and Mitch climbed aboard the time rover. "Yep, Ken, it's done. Now we can go home."

Ken then turned to Mitch, his face set. "And did you erase the pictures in your camera-phone?"

Mitch glared back at him, dug into his pocket, and tossed his camera-phone to him. Ken caught it, opened it up, and checked the gallery where the photos would be. To his surprise there were none in the gallery. Not one.

"Happy now?" Mitch said as he turned away and sat down in his seat. Ken didn't know what to say. He put the phone away in the buggy's map pocket and sat back down. Shelly gave him a knowing nudge with her elbow, activated the buggy's engine, and positioned themselves behind the rover. Sophie in turn activated the rover's time jump return button. The rover's time engines came to life with a electrical hum as the portal back to the Dino institute came into view. The dinosaurs around the lake all stopped what they were doing and stared at the spectacular sight. Some of them ran away while others gathered a little closer. Sophie then drove the rover forward into the portal, the buggy following right behind it. Both time vehicles disappeared into the swirling vortex until there was nothing there. The portal then closed and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the dinosaurs and the nesting grounds behind.

* * *

Dr. Grant Seeker was relieved when the time rover had returned through the time tunnel, along with the time buggy. Both vehicles came to a stop at the drop station he got out of the time control booth. Sophie climbed out, followed by Shelly and Ken from the buggy. Dr. Seeker could see just by looking at them that the threesome had been on quite the adventure. Or should he say 'foursome'. There seemed to be an extra person getting out of the rover with them. Well, it didn't matter to Seeker. The more the merrier, right?

"Hey, Dr. Seeker," Sophie waved as she and the others approached. "We're back. And we completed our mission. The Iguanodon has been tagged."

Seeker clasped his hands in pure delight.

"Well done, everyone." Seeker congratulated. "You did good, and it only took you a few minutes to get back. Two hours, to be exact."

"We were only gone for that long?" Mitch enquired, scratching his head.

"That's how time travel works, cus'," Shelly told him. "Everything in this time period slows down."

"Wow," Was all Mitch could say.

 **Later**

For the rest of the day the group talked in the private meeting room of the institute, discussing about the adventures they all had had in the age of the dinosaurs.

Dr. Seeker was most intrigued about the lemurs and how they had existed in the dinosaur's world. Sophie filled in some of the gaps about the nesting ground and the herd's journey across the desert and how Kron had almost killed the herd during the last leg of their journey.

Mitch kept quite during the whole conversation as he helped himself to some sandwiches on the table. His ankle had been wrapped in a bandage a while ago, and thanks to Sophie, he was able to walk properly without drawing suspicion from Dr. Marsh.

Seeker was glade that they had all made it out of their adventure alive. He left the meeting room, leaving the four friends to get some much needed rest.

By the time the afternoon had come and gone, it was around that time Mrs Blake came to pick up her children. Sophie had already procured a ride home, so she was good. As the kids got into the car, Mitch decided that maybe he should take the backseat with Ken and let Shelly have the front seat beside her mother. As the car pulled out of the driveway and onto the road, Mitch and Ken watched as the Institute disappeared from view behind a hill.

"Thanks for what you did, Mitch," Ken said under his breath, so that his mother could not hear him.

"I know," Sighed Mitch. "I just wish I could have gotten a good photo of those dinosaurs and had kept it." He then turned to Ken. "Do you think Shelly and you can really help me gain friends? Proper friends, I mean."

Ken smiled a little. "Of course, Mitch. Just as long as you can keep the secret of the T.W.C to yourself."

"Don't worry," Said Mitch. "I doubt anyone will believe me anyway. Your secret's safe with me, cus."

Smiling, Ken leaned back against his seat, closed his eyes, and imagined the world they had all just left behind.

Sophie, meanwhile, walked away from the Dino Institute to wait for her ride home. She turned back to look at the building and smiled. She also thought about the world she and her friends had left behind. One thing was for curtain-the journey for them was not over yet. She could only hope that in some small way the time of the dinosaurs would be remembered.

 _ **The End**_

 _ **:**_

* * *

:

 _ **(Note) None of the Disney Dinosaur themed characters belong to me, only the OC human characters do.**_

 _ **Sophie Luna Wolfheart(C) belongs to saphiradragonhert**_


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